Hardships
by aNgEl-EyEz2529
Summary: Ginny has problems with depression and she notices that Draco is picking on her a lot more than usual lately. An awful event brings Ginny to her knees and a certain blonde is the one who can help her back up. DG and slight RHr
1. I Hate

_**I Hate...**_

Ginny Weasley played with the food on her plate, not enjoying the feast for the first night back at Hogwarts.

"Ginny, is something wrong?" a concerned Colin Creevey asked.

"N-no. I'm perfectly fine," she lied. She hated lying to her best friend, but she couldn't tell him about her depression. The people in her family were the only ones who knew about it, and she didn't want anyone else to know, even if that meant lying to her best friend. She slowly started to develop it in her first year, during the whole 'Tom Riddle's diary' thing. She liked keeping to herself, and not having a diary to write things in, meant she had to bottle everything in. She couldn't talk to her brothers about anything, they would all make fun of her. She couldn't talk to her parents, they worry about her enough. She did talk to Colin about some things, but she couldn't just tell him everything. She liked having things that only she knew about. She soon had chronic depression, and her mother was the first to notice.

She slowly started to get better in her fourth year and two years later, she still had episodes of it every now and then.

"Are you going to keep attacking your food with your fork or are you going to eat it?" Ron asked from across the table.

"Do you want it?"

"Yeah!"

"Take it," she said, pushing the plate towards him. Ginny was absolutely revolted at how fast he ate but Colin merely chuckled.

* * *

"Ron, you're such a disgusting pig," Ginny said in a disgusted voice as they walked to Gryffindor tower.

"What's new?" Hermione asked, giggling, Harry laughing, and Ron's face turned a light shade of pink, clashing horribly with his freckles. The trio walked off, talking, leaving Ginny and Colin walking by themselves.

"Colin, what's the password?"

"It's funny you should ask, Ginny," he said, trying his best to suppress his laughter.

"What's so funny about it?" "Get this: the new password is fearful ferret." Ginny doubled over laughing.

"You're joking!" Colin shook his head.

"Nope. Hermione, Harry, and Ron somehow convinced the portrait of the Fat Lady to have that as the password. I think they said something about her not being able to come up with one on her own...... Anyway, what do you need it for?"

"I'm going on a walk. Alone," she added. She saw him about to open his mouth and knew he was going to ask if he could come along, too.

"Oh, okay."

"Thanks. I'll be back later!" she called over her shoulder as she walked down the staircase. She grinned stupidly the whole time she was walking until she ended up in front of the library.

_'Why not go in?'_ In reply to herself, she shrugged her shoulders and walked in. As she walked around, she started humming a muggle song called 'I Swear'. After a couple of minutes, she started softly singing it.

"I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky, I'll be there. And I swear like the shadow that's by your side, I'll be there. For better or-"

"Augh! Stop that horrible noise!"

Ginny stiffened as she recognized the malicious voice. _'Malfoy,' _she thought miserably. _'If there's anyone who could trigger my depression, it's definitely him.' _She turned around as Draco came around the bookshelf and a smirk spread across his face, seeing that it was her.

"Oh, Weaselette, it's you. I should have known. Who else would have been singing a muggle song but a filthy, disgusting Weasley?"

"Shove off, Malfoy!" she snarled.

"I'm in no mood for you today!" She made to go to the door, but he blocked her path.

"What's wrong, Weasley? Did you catch scar-head and the mudblood snogging? Did it upset you? Did you _really_ think you had a chance with him?"

"First of all," she said through clenched teeth, "I don't care if Harry likes me that way or not, because I'm over him. Secondly, Harry and Hermione have never snogged!"

"How would you know? There's only so much you tell your best friend's tag-a-long, not to mention _younger_, sister."

"I'm just as good of friends with Harry and Hermione as Ron is!" she said angrily and confidently, but she knew he was right. Draco also knew he was right and tat he'd struck a nerve, so he decided to provoke her further. Ginny once again tried to leave, but he blocked her way again, this time cornering her against a bookshelf, her back pressed to it as far is it would go.

"I bet it's very upsetting. You know, having them brush you off whenever they want to, but if they need your help, your like a little puppy. Willing to obey."

"Malfoy-"

"I forgot, though. You do the same thing to that mudblood, Creevey. Every time you need him, he's there, but if you don't, you blow him off."

"Don't. You. Ever-"

"You do make a pretty bad habit of hanging out with mudbloods.. A very unhealthy habit, at that."

Ginny was furious._ 'He's really pushing it.' _But she knew he was telling the truth. Everything he said was true.

"Who wouldn't, though, growing up with your family. The whole lot of you are a disgrace to wizards everywhere. "I mean, besides the fact that you lot associate with muggles and muggle borns, your mother-"

"Don't have a go at my Mum!" Ginny shouted.

"Your mother," Draco continued in his cold, drawling voice, closing in on Ginny so there was barely and inch between the two, "I'm surprised she can still walk. Seeing as how she gave birth to... what? Fifty of you? She's really porky. Could do with losing some weight, couldn't she? And poor Weasley." He paused and gave her a solemn look. "Looks like she's passing the 'heavy' genes on to you."

At that moment, Ginny couldn't get to her wand, so she did what she was taught at home. She kneed him in between the legs and hurried out of the library as fast as she could. With tears spilling down her face, she ran back to Gryffindor tower, having her worse fears realized by her worst enemy. She knew she had gained some weight, but she didn't know it was that much. She got to the portrait of the Fat Lady and her mind was completely blank.

_'Oh, great. This can't get any worse.' _She waited outside of the portrait for a couple of minutes before her mind caught up with her. _'I can just knock.'_ She knocked. No one came. She knocked again. Still, no one. _'Where on earth is everyone? It's only about 9:30!' _She knocked one last time. No one.

"Oy! Weasley!"

_'Does he ever give up?'_ She quickly wiped her face and turned around. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"What are you doing?" he asked with amusement written all over his face.

"I forgot the password, thank you, and now I'm trying to get back in. Do you mind?"

"Not at all." He leaned against the rail of the stairs and watched her for a few minutes.

"Why are you still here?" she asked after a few minutes of knocking. "Do you know the password and are enjoying me NOT knowing and NOT able to get in?"

"No, I don't know the password, Weasley, but to answer your first question, that's not your portrait."

Ginny stood there dumbfounded. "Of course it is," she replied, stupidly. "I think I know the portrait of my own house." She knew he was right. It wasn't the portrait.

"Are you really THAT dense, Weasley? You didn't even guess after it didn't ask you your password? You didn't guess after it was laughing at you?"

She wanted to slap that smirk right off of his face, after she let her anger get to her, she did.

"Weasley! You really are stupid! I'm head boy!" He held onto his face with a look of surprise and pain, but it quickly turned into a look of triumph. "50 points from Gryffindor."

"Malfoy, you heartless, cold, power-driven, useless, ugly, heartless-"

"You, already said heartless, Weasley," he replied in a bored voice.

"GIT!" She stormed off towards Gryffindor tower and heard Draco call after her, "Make sure you get the right portrait this time!"

_'Ooh, I can't stand him!' _she thought angrily. As soon as she got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, she remembered the password.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Fearful ferret!" she snapped.

"Don't take that tone of voice with me!"

"Sorry," she mumbled. The portrait swung open and let Ginny pass. She stormed into the common room and went upstairs with shouts of concern from her brother and his friends. _'Just ignore them,'_ she told herself. She got upstairs to her dorm and collapsed on her bed in tears._ 'I hate him. I hate that he's right. Right about everything. I hate him. I hate my life. I hate.... everything.'_

* * *

**Author's Note: This is just a start, just to see how you people like it so far..... There will be a lot more explanation in later chapters, and they'll be longer, I promise! So plz, plz, plz review! Thanks.**


	2. Two Detentions

**Author's Note: Hello, again! Thank you so much, **_FlyingHampsterOfDoom_**, for reviewing! And sorry, this chappy is a lil shorter than I intended! And, no, they do NOT, I repeat, do NOT fall madly in love without any reason at all in just a split second time. It happens VERY, VERY gradually! Thanx again! On with the fic!**

****

**_Two Detentions_**

Ginny woke up late the next day, which was bad, seeing as she had Potions first._ 'If I had to be late for ANY class, Potions had to be it!'_ she thought grumpily. She quickly got dressed and rushed to the dungeons as fast as she could.

"Oh, Weasley!"

_'Not today!'_ she thought, ignoring the voice.

"Weasley! I order you to stop!"

"Like you have any right to tell me what to do, Malfoy!"

"Actually, unlike you, Weasley, I DO have that power. Head boy, remember?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, only to stare into a pair of cold, piercing silver eyes. "Fine. What do you want?"

"McGonagall wants to see you. In her classroom, that is."

Ginny rolled her eyes. _'I've been up for less than 10 minutes and I'm already having a lousy day.'_

"Are you going back to class, Malfoy, or do you have to escort me everywhere I go?"

"I _am _going back to class, Weasley. Transfiguration."

"Oh," she grumbled. _'Malfoy probably thinks I'm the dumbest person on the face of this Earth,'_ she groaned. _'Like I care what he thinks,'_ she thought, rolling her eyes. _'Of course I care, though. That's only because I care about what everyone thinks of me.'_

When they got to the Transfiguration classroom, Ginny saw Draco give her one last satisfied smirk as she followed him inside.

"Miss Weasley. Come here please," Professor McGonagall called as she entered the room.

Ginny made her way to the front, receiving curious looks from Ron, Hermione, and Harry.

"Mr. Malfoy informed me that while patrolling the halls last night, he stumbled upon you. He said that he was taking points away for you being out past curfew, when you kicked him... ahem... in his... shall we say 'privates'. Is this true?"

"No, Professor." When Professor McGonagall gave her a curious look, Ginny said, "I kneed him, not kicked him."

"So the rest of it _is _true, then?"

Ginny knew that it was pointless to try and argue, so, defeated, she nodded. "Yes, Professor."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Weasley. 5 points from Gryffindor and a detention will be in order. I will meet you in here as soon as you're finished with your dinner. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor."

"That is all. Good day."

Ginny did not leave but stared awkwardly at McGonagall. "Um... Professor?"

"Yes?"

"May I have an excuse for Professor Snape?"

"Doesn't Professor Snape know you're with me? You were in his class when Mr. Malfoy went to fetch you, were you not?"

"Not exactly."

"Oh. Would you care to explain?"

"I was coming out of the bathroom when Malfoy caught up with me. I didn't have any time to return to the dungeons and inform Sn... erm, Professor Snape, before I came."

"Here you are." Professor McGonagall handed Ginny an excuse for Potions and Ginny sighed with relief. She turned around and gave Draco one last reproachful look before leaving. He replied by giving her a smug triumphant look. As soon as she got out of the classroom, she read the excuse to make sure it was worded exactly right. She gave a triumphant punch in the air and headed to the dungeons.

"Miss Weasley. Do you mind explaining to me whey you're half an hour late for class?" Snape asked, absolutely delighted at the fact that he could take points off of Gryffindor on the first day.

_'No. It's because you're an ugly git,'_ she wanted to say, but instead, held out the note saying, "I was with Professor McGonagall. Here's the note she wrote for me."

Every last bit of glee that Snape had was erased from his face. He snatched the note out of her hands, reading it over and over. He gritted his teeth and said disdainfully, "Take your seat, Weasley." He motioned to the blackboard that had chalk written on it. "You will not be given any extra time to finish the potion." He looked at her and malicious a smile appeared on his face.

_'Oh, I wish I could slap that greasy-haired git and wipe that stupid smile off of his face.'_

"Miss Weasley. Where are your things?"

She looked at her shoulder and realized she forgot her bag. _'Where do you think, you stupid oaf? In my dorm.'_ "I must have left them in my room, Professor."

"Well, 5 points from Gryffindor and a detention."

"But Professor-"

"Make that 10 points. Would you care to push it further?"

She sat there staring at her cauldron.

"And perhaps a zero for today. Maybe you'll think twice before you leave your things in your room next time."

The rest of the day didn't go anywhere as near as bad and she talked to Professor McGonagall about Snape's detention.

"Miss Weasley, I will simply have to inform Professor Snape that you were given detention by me first, then?"

"Well," Ginny said uneasily. "All I'm asking is that you move my detention with you to another night.... like tomorrow. I mean, because Snape is very hard to persuade."

"Professor Snape," she lightly corrected her. "Well, Miss Weasley. You have a point. Be here tomorrow night right after dinner. That is all."

"Thank you, Professor."

* * *

The day grew on and Ginny dreaded Snape's detention more and more.

"Don't worry about it, Gin," Colin said assuringly when Ginny told him her fears of what Snape might do at dinner. "He'll probably make you re-label all of the potions bottles or something. Just hope you don't have to clean out the room where he keeps all the potions. Bleh!" Colin shuddered as he remembered the time he had to do that in detention.

"Thanks, Colin," she said miserably.

"Ginny! Tell me something," Ron said, storming up to her.

"How is it the first day, and you already have 2 detentions?!"

"Ron, it's not that big of a deal," Harry said.

"Honestly, Ron. It's none of your business, anyway!" Hermione protested.

"How is it not any of my business?!"

"Because it just isn't!" Ginny yelled. "Nothing in my life is your business unless I MAKE it your business!"

"But, Ginny-"

"No 'buts'! Stay out of it, Ron."

"Fine. Will you _please_ tell me how you got them, though? I'm not angry... I'm impressed," he said with a grin on his face.

Ginny half-heartedly smiled. "Okay. I got one with McGonagall for kneeing Malfoy."

Hermione gasped and Harry and Ron gave triumphant laughs.

"Where?" Ron asked, delighted.

"Um.. Where you guys taught me was the weakest spot for a boy..."

"Ginny! You didn't!" Hermione said, with her hands on her face, but giggling none-the-less.

"Good one!" Ron said.

"I thought he was walking oddly..." Harry said in thought.

"I thought he was waddling like a penguin, if you ask me," Ginny said, with a small grin on her face.

They all laughed at this. This eased Ginny up a lot.

"Um... Gin... What about the other one? There _was_ two detentions right?"

"I forgot my books for Snape. Said I wasn't prepared."

"Don't worry about that, Gin. He gives out detentions because he's bored. That's what me and Harry concluded, anyway."

"You two deserve every single one of your detentions," Hermione said.

"Who? Us? NEVER!" he said, slamming down his fist in mock rage.

* * *


	3. The Detentions and Cookies

**Author's Note: Hey, thanx **_DracoandGinny_**, for reviewing! It means a lot! On with the story!**

**_The Detentions and Cookies _**

Ginny took her time walking to the dungeons. The later she got to detention, the better._ 'But,' _she argued with herself._ 'Snape said to be there right after dinner.' _With that thought, she quickened her pace.

"Good evening, Miss Weasley," came the sneer of the Potions' teacher, Snape.

"Good evening, Professor."

"Miss Weasley, I have much more important matters to attend to than to supervise this detention, so I'll be leaving you in the hands of one of my most honorable students."

Ginny closed her eyes, praying that it wasn't....

"Mr. Malfoy will make sure you finish your duties before leaving. Understood?"

"Yes."

"I am a Professor, Miss Weasley, and you will refer to me and respect me as such."

"Yes. _Professor_."

Just then, the dungeon door opened and Draco walked in, looking as smug as ever. "I will leave you to it, then, Weasley. You will re-label all of the potions jars on this shelf," he said gesturing to a shelf with potions bottles stack upon potions bottles. "Without magic," he added. He nodded to Draco and said, "Good evening, Mr. Malfoy."

"Same to you, Professor."

Snape swept out of the dungeon, slamming the door so it echoed loudly off of the walls.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Weasel? Get started."

Ginny started, grumbling madly to herself.

"Weasley, the first sign of insanity is talking to yourself."

She ignored him and continued with her job. Within an hour and a half, she was halfway finished.

Draco was getting bored and she could tell by the way he kept saying, "I'm bored, Weasley," or, "You're boring me, Weasley."

She ignored him.

After the second hour, he sighed and whined, "Weasley, I'm bored!"

"Well, then, in that case, go whack off, you wanker." Draco looked at her, open-mouthed.

"I am _no_ WANKER!" he shouted, offended.

"Could have fooled me." She continued labeling the jars.

Draco just glared at her. He walked over to where she was labeling the jars and bottles. He started taking all of the labels off of the ones she already did.

"Malfoy, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"And just why not? _You're_ the one who has to re-label them. Not me."

"Well, the more I have to do, the longer I have to stay. The longer _I _have to stay, the longer _you_ have to stay."

Draco mumbled under his breath and Ginny smirked._ 'He didn't think about that, huh? Heh, heh.' _

He walked back to the desk he was sitting in before and slid back in. "Wake me up when you're finished, Weasel." With that, he put his head in his arms and drifted off to sleep.

_'Yeah, right,' _she thought, rolling her eyes._ 'I'll just leave you right there.'_

Within another hour and a half she was finished re-labeling everything she was told to and changed her mind about waking Draco up. _'We'll see if he's a heavy sleeper or not,' _she thought, grinning.

She tiptoed over to where he was sleeping and put her mouth as close to his ear as she possibly could without touching him. She took in a big gasp of air and shouted as loud as she could. "RISE AND SHINE, MALFOY, YOU BIG GIT!"

He jumped and fell out of his seat, falling hard on the ground on his bum. Ginny doubled over laughing.

"Weaselette, that was NOT funny!" he growled, rubbing his butt where he fell.

"No, Malfoy, you're VERY much mistaking. That was quite hilarious." She turned and walked out of the door, a big grin on her face.

* * *

Ginny returned to the Common Room at 12:30, not the least bit sleepy, to find that someone was still up.

"Hello, Ginny," Hermione said, sitting at a table. Crookshanks leapt up and ran to Ginny, wanting her to pet him.

"Hello Hermione. Hello Crookshanks." Ginny walked over to the table and sat down beside Hermione. "Why are you up so late? This _is_ a school night, Hermione, you know."

Hermione sighed and said, "Yes, I know. And the reason I'm up is because.... well... I need your advice."

"_Mine_? Are you sure you're talking to the right girl, Hermione?" she asked, looking around.

"Yes I'm sure. You're the only one who could help me."

"Erm... Okay, then. Fire away."

"Well," she said awkwardly, ringing her hands together.

"You know me pretty well, right?"

"Right."

"And you can tell when a girl likes a guy, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well.... er.... well... Have you noticed that I liked a particular boy?"

"Yes," Ginny said truthfully. She's known for years that she's liked Ron, and even called him a great, big oaf for not knowing who liked him that very summer.

"You do?" Hermione sighed in relief. It was harder to say it out loud.

"Yes, of course. Everyone knows that you've fancied Ron forever!"

"They did? Oh, my," she said, blushing.

"Um, yeah!" Ginny replied as if were oh-so-obvious.

"Well, anyways, do you know if he.... erm...."

"Likes you, too?"

"Yes."

"Well, not exactly." Hermione's face fell.

"No, no, Hermione. Not exactly as in, I don't know! Not he doesn't like you!"

Hermione started to glow. "Oh, I feel so stupid now," she said giggling.

"Don't." Ginny sat there just staring at the table, all kinds of thought running through her mind. _'Remember to ask Ron if he likes her. Remember to go to sleep tonight. Remember to cry a little. No, a lot. Remember to-' _

"Gin," Hermione said uncertainly. "Are you okay? I mean, because lately, you haven't been yourself too much."

"What do you mean?" Ginny knew perfectly well what she meant.

"Well, I mean... I don't know. You seem distant. And you don't smile a lot. And I talked to a girl, MacKenzie, in your grade. She said she hears you cry sometimes when you think everyone's asleep. And," she continued, looking absolutely embarrassed. "That week I spent at the burrow this summer, I walked by the bathroom and heard you making yourself throw up. That was when I asked you if you wanted to talk.

"I didn't mean to figure all of these things out, Ginny," she said, biting her lip apologetically. "And I wasn't trying to get in your business, I swear! But Gin, I'm worried about you!"

Ginny sat there, dumbfounded. "D-did you tell anyone?" was all she could say.

"No, Ginny! Never! I did ask Colin if you were acting a little odd, and he said that you were, but you persuaded him you were perfectly fine. And Ginerva Weasley (Ginny cringed at her full name)! You are NOT perfectly fine, and you know it. "Now, please, Ginny. Please tell me what's going on." Ginny looked into Hermione's soft, brown eyes, partially thankful that she found out, and partially mortified.

She burst into tears. "I'm sorry that I worried you, but right now almost EVERYTHING has gone wrong in my life! I'm dirt poor and have to wear a lot of Ron's old things, which were once ALL of my brothers' old things! I can never have anything I want! And when I got upset, I would eat! And then I started to gain weight! I gained 16 pounds during the whole SUMMER and so that's when I started making myself throw up! Then I got even more upset and ate more and more! I have NO friends except Colin, and let's face it! He's a guy! I can't have girls night out with a GUY! I'm too scared to make any friends because of Tom Riddle, and he screwed up my WHOLE LIFE! Because of him, I'm constantly watched and babied, and because of him, I can't trust ANYONE! The very first night here, I got teased and mocked by that overly grown baby MALFOY and couldn't do anything about it! Because when I tried, he docked points! Then he had to watch my detention tonight, but at least he didn't talk, because then, that would have been pure HELL!"

"Ginny," Hermione said in a soothing voice, embracing her in a friendly hug. "Don't worry about Malfoy. He does anything and everything to make everyone miserable."

"You just don't get it, Hermione! I have depression! It makes everything that happens to me seem 50 times worse than it really is and makes me feel like I'm the only one who goes through ANYTHING! And let me tell you, I DO believe that I'm the ONLY one who gets made fun of as much as I get MADE FUN OF!" Ginny yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Sh, Ginny, you have to be quiet," Hermione said in comforting tones.

"It's almost midnight. Everyone would be asleep by now."

"Well, not everyone," Ron said, coming down from the boy dorms, closely followed by Harry.

"What are you two doing up?" Harry asked, yawning.

"Ginny just came back from her detention and I couldn't sleep," Hermione said simply. Ginny was quick to wipe the tears off of her face, but her eyes were still red and puffy.

"What were you yelling about anyway, Gin? You probably woke up even Hagrid from his hut, the way you were going on."

"Ginny saw a mouse," Hermione lied, without blinking.

"Where did it go?" Harry asked.

"It was a fake one. One of Fred and George's. She forgot she had it and screamed when it ran out of her pocket."

"Why aren't you answering, Gin?" Ron questioned her.

"I put a silencing charm on her, didn't you hear me?" Hermione replied as Ginny opened her mouth to speak. She quickly shut it, amazed at how fast Hermione was throwing the lies. _'She could put a run for my money, one of these days,' _Ginny thought, impressed.

"Well, then, take it off of her," Ron said simply.

Hermione said the counter curse, and Ginny played along.

"Thanks," she said, grumpily, rubbing her neck.

"No problem," Hermione said cheerfully.

"What were you saying about getting made fun of?" Ron asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I simply said that if any of you found out, I would get made fun of."

"Why were you yelling it? Couldn't you have just told Hermione to keep quiet, quietly?"

"She was laughing, and my temper rose. You know how I can be."

"Boy, do I."

"Ginny," Harry said, suddenly. "Your eyes. Are they swollen?"

"No. While I was in detention, I got into some dust. I'm allergic to it, you know. My eyes were watering and I rubbed them raw."

"Whatever you say. I'm going back to bed. Coming Ron?"

"No, no. I'm wide awake now," he said, plopping down at the table next to Ginny.

Ginny looked at Harry and he nodded to the girls dorms. She knew exactly what he meant.

"I'm exhausted," she lied. "I think I'm going to bed, too." Everyone said 'Goodnight' to Harry and Ginny got up from the table, Hermione grabbing her arm.

"Let go!" Ginny hissed. Hermione reluctantly let go of her sleeve, and she trudged up the stairs, saying 'Goodnight' to Ron and Hermione, smiling to herself. _'That little devil, Harry,' _Ginny thought grinning to herself. He knew as well as she did the 'relationship' between Hermione and Ron and knew perfectly well that Harry was trying to get them together.

* * *

The next day was very uneventful for Ginny, including the detention given by Professor McGonagall, which was supervised by Hermione, due to an 'important meeting'.

"Hermione. What happened last night when I went to bed?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you? Well, I'm not supposed to let anyone know before Ron tells Harry, which will be _never_ considering how intimidated Ron is to tell him, but..... this will be our little secret, okay?"

"Okay...."

"Well, me and Ron... we're going steady." Ginny squealed. There was not a more perfect couple (or so she thought. Hm...). Hermione giggled.

"Um, Herm? Thanks for telling me."

"Sure, Gin. Oh, and Harry told me what you and him were up to, so I should be thanking you. I already thanked Harry."

"Sure. No problem. And, Herm?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do I have to clean the Transfiguration room? I mean, it will take an hour, tops. And it's not very punishing."

"Don't ask me. It's what Professor McGonagall wanted you to do."

"Okay. Just wondering." The rest of the detention was spent talking about Hermione and Ron's relationship and Ginny and Kevin's (a boy in Ravenclaw) relationship (Hermione didn't know that they had broken up before school started back, so that's why he was never mentioned).

* * *

When Ginny got to her room at 10:30 that night, MacKenzie and a girl named Misty were still up, talking.

"Hey Gin!" MacKenzie said happily, waving her over. MacKenzie was the one girl in her year that she was closest to. They were almost best friends, but not quite.

"Hey Mackie," she replied.

"Hey Gin," Misty said. Ginny and Misty were friends, but not as good of friends as her and MacKenzie were.

"Hey Misty." She sat down on the bed next to them. "What's up?"

"Well, me and Misty were talking we decided that we-"

"No, we decided that you..." Misty interrupted.

"Right. We decided that I was going to do something really stupid Saturday."

"And that would be?" Ginny urged.

"Well... okay, you have to hear the whole story. We were writing notes earlier and we were just acting really stupid and blonde.... 'Blonde' is the term, isn't it? Or is it brunette?" Ginny had taught them that blonde means really airheaded in muggle terms, so they decided to start using it.

"It's blonde."

"Okay, well we were acting really blonde and Misty wrote 'Boys have cooties!', but I thought it said 'Boys have cookies!' and I asked her what it meant. Anyways, we got into this whole funny conversation about boys having cookies and girls attacking them for their cookies.

"Then later, we were playing truth or dare. I picked dare and she dared me to go around school Saturday tackling boys, tickling them, and screaming something about cookies."

Ginny laughed. She knew how energetic and stupid MacKenzie would act. She could just imagine her doing that.

"But of course I'm not going to do it by myself. I have to have someone look like an idiot with me. So... will you do it with me?"

Ginny immediately shook her head. "No way, last time I did something this stupid with you, we ended up getting into a lot of trouble.... Not to mention almost every guy in school thought you were a lesbian and I was a slut."

MacKenzie then resorted to something she knew Ginny couldn't turn down. The puppy dog eyes and the pouty lips.

"Fine!" Ginny said defeated, throwing up her hands.

"Really?! Oh my gosh, Ginny! Thank you so much!" Mackie said, throwing her arms around Ginny.

"Stop suffocating me or I won't do it!" she said, breathless.

"Sorry!" Mackie replied guiltily, immediately letting go. Misty on the other hand was laughing.

"What's so funny over there, Misty?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You should have seen your face when Kenzie was hugging you!" Ginny rolled her eyes. Misty laughed about the stupidest things sometimes.

**

* * *

****A/N: Okay, sorry that this chapter is a little.... off..... Me and my friends were at church camp (yes, I'm a Christian and I read Harry Potter, so sue me. Wait, don't, I have no money.....) and my pillow has different sayings on them. One of them is 'Boys Have Cooties'. Well, I said if you covered up the 'T' and made it a 'K', the it spells cookies. Then we had giggle fits about tackling boys over cookies. That is how the chapter of this story came about! LoL! You'll see next chapter about everything we said about tackling boys with cookies.... LMAO! Btw, sorry this chapter was so long. **


	4. The News

**_The News_**

**__**

Saturday came very quickly, much to Ginny's dismay.

"Wake up, Gin!" Mackie yelled, jumping on top of a sleeping Ginny Weasley.

"Gerrof me," she mumbled, pulling the covers over the top of her head.

"Ginny! You promised!" MacKenzie whined.

"What time is it?!" she demanded.

"Ten. We have to get started! Come on, Gin!"

"Fine." Ginny sat up slowly and looked around. "Where's Misty?" she asked yawning and climbing out of bed.

"Eating. I told her to go on, and we would catch up."

"Well," she replied, tugging on a strand of ginger hair. "Let me get dressed and we'll get started."

"Hurry, okay? Don't want to keep all of the unsuspecting boys waiting, do we?" Mackie asked with a mischievous gleam in her ice blue eyes.

"I'm sure they won't mind, and neither do I, to be honest."

"Just hurry, Ginny."

* * *

Ginny and MacKenzie were down in the Great Hall in less than 15 minutes and found that Misty had just finished eating.

"Are you guys ready or do you want to eat first?"

"I'm not hungry," Ginny lied. The truth was that she was starving and hadn't eaten since Wednesday, but she had to lose weight.

"Me neither," Mackie replied, twirling a strand of long silver-blonde hair in her fingers. "I'm so excited about this... thing, that my stomach is doing flips."

"M-me too," Ginny stuttered, wringing her hands nervously.

Misty's dark, forest green eyes narrowed slightly at Ginny. Even though Ginny considered the two friends, she had a feeling every once in a while that Misty couldn't stand her.

Mackie bit her lip and started bouncing up and down slightly on her heels. She always did that unconsciously when she was nervous or excited.

Misty, on the other hand, threw her long, light, brown hair over her shoulders impatiently and cried, "Are we going or not?!"

"We're coming," Mackie said, leading the way.

* * *

"Okay, Ginny. This is what we're going to do. You and I are going to take turns tickling boys for cookies." She paused long enough to giggle. "I'll go first. If there's a group of two or more, I'll take one and you'll take one. Whoever's turn it is gets to choose who they want first. The rest.... are just there. Understand?"

Ginny's light brown eyes glanced nervously at the other two girls and she nodded. "How long do we have to do this?"

"An hour. But you guys have to hurry up and get started, because the sooner you two get started, the sooner we can stop," Misty replied, grumpily.

"_We_?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows. "_You_ don't have to do anything but _watch_, so I wouldn't complain if I were you."

"Sure," Misty said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, let's go, Gin," Mackie said excitedly, grabbing Ginny roughly by the arm and pulling her into the corridor.

"You first, remember?"

"I know, I know."

The three girls were walking down the fourth floor corridor when they spotted their first victim.

"Dennis Creevey," Misty giggled, pointing down the corridor towards the spot he was walking. "Go get him, tiger!" she exclaimed, nudging Mackie.

Mackie charged and tackled him. There was a group of four Hufflepuff girls in the corridor and they looked on, bewildered.

"Cookies! Give me your cookies!" she yelled maniacally, tickling him.

"I... don't have... any... COOKIES!" he exclaimed in between shrill giggles.

The Hufflepuffs quickly walked away, looking frightened.

Mackie stopped tickling Dennis and walked over to her friends, the three of them laughing, while Dennis scrambled up and ran away.

Misty giggled and pointed and an upcoming group of three.

"Harry, Hermione, and my brother. I'll take Ron," Ginny said wickedly, rubbing her hands together.

"But I wanted Ron!"

"My turn, my choice. Ron's mine."

"Fine. We go on three. One..."

"Two..."

"THREE!"

They charged.

"Ahhh!" Ginny yelled, heading straight for the boy that shared the same genes of freckles and red hair.

"POTTER! YOUR COOKIES ARE MINE!" Mackie yelled, charging at the black-haired boy.

"Ginny?!" Ron exclaimed right before Ginny tackled him very hard onto the floor.

"Argh!" Harry yelled right before he got tackled by MacKenzie.

"Give me your cookies, Ron!" Ginny yelled, tickling her brother in his ticklish spot.

"Ginny.... stop... stop... STOP IT!" he yelled between laughs.

"Ouch! Hey... haha... Are you two out of your minds?!" Harry yelled between his laughs.

"All we want are your cookies, Harry!" Mackie explained, giggling like mad.

"Ginny... that's not... not... fair... STOP IT!"

"GERROF ME!" Harry yelled, trying to hold in his laughter.

Mackie and Ginny reluctantly got up off of the two helpless boys and noticed that Hermione was bent over, trying not to laugh.

"'Mione, that's not funny," Ron complained, glaring at Ginny.

"It really wasn't," Harry replied, dusting himself off.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Ginny asked, noticing that her face was cherry-colored.

"I.. I'm fine... AHAHA! I'm sorry... Ron... I... really am!" she giggled, holding onto her knees to help support her.

"Are you mad?!" Ron demanded at Ginny, ears turning bright red.

"Ron, leave her alone," Hermione said firmly, quickly regaining her composure.

"Yeah, Ron. I mean, it is the first time I've seen her truly laugh since... last year," Harry replied quietly.

"Exactly, Ronald. Can't you lighten up, and let me laugh?" Ginny asked, flashing her puppy dog eyes at him.

"Stop it, Ginny. Of course I want you to laugh. Just don't embarrass me in front of someone next time," he said, jerking his head towards Hermione, and Ginny grinned.

"Of course not, Ickle Ronnikins!"

Ron opened his mouth to respond, while Hermione buried her hands in her face, but Misty interrupted him.

"It's been a nice little chat, but we'll be heading off, now, seeing as we have more boys to steal cookies from," she said snootily, as she grabbed Ginny's and MacKenzie's arms and drug them off.

"Okay, so is it mine or your turn?" Ginny asked Mackie.

"Yours. It's like I went after you, so it's your turn again."

"Fine," Ginny sighed.

"What's wrong Gin?"

"Ron and them. They could have at least waited until I was gone to talk about me, don't you think? That would have been at least a little more decent."

"Oh, come on, Gin! You were having so much fun, for almost 10 whole minutes! Don't get upset on me, now!"

"Yeah. We don't want the waterworks to get started on us," Misty replied, scathingly.

"What's your problem with me, Misty? Why are you always so hateful towards me?"

"Don't you remember what happened last summer, Ginny?! I'm not surprised that you don't! As big of a slut that you are!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Not now!" Mackie yelled at Misty, shooting a warning glance at her. "We were all getting along just fine Misty. Admit it, you were having fun."

"No I-"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Mackie said, cutting her off. "You just had to start acting like everything revolves around you, right when we were all getting along. Don't try to act like our time being ruined is her fault, because it's all on you!"

'_What are they talking about?!' _Ginny wondered.

"Come on, Gin. Let's go finish the rest of the dare, just for fun," Mackie said, grabbing Ginny's hand and glaring at Misty.

A few minutes later they ended up on the sixth floor corridor.

"What was that all about, Mackie?"

MacKenzie shook her head darkly. "I'll tell you later, when we have plenty of time to talk."

"I know it's my turn, but you can take it. After you do it, I'll probably get back in the mood, but right now, I'm not feeling up to it."

"Okay, Gin. I'm only doing this once, though. Okay?"

"Fine."

They walked for a few minutes whenever Ginny realized that they hadn't seen anyone since they talked to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Where is everybody?" Mackie asked, looking around, as though reading Ginny's mind.

"Probably still sleeping. Or eating. I know that that's where I'd be if it weren't for this stupid dare."

"Yeah. That's probably where I'd be, too." The walked for a little while longer and finally saw someone, but it wasn't a living someone. It was more of a something.

"Hello, Sir Nicholas!" Mackie exclaimed, in a fake, cheerful voice.

"Hello MacKenzie! Ginerva! Why, Ginny, what's the matter?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Nick."

"Are you sure it's nothing I can help you with? I'm very good at helping students out with their problems."

"I'm positive, Nick. Thanks for offering, though."

"No problem, my dear. And as you know, I'm here to talk to, if you need it.

"Yes, I know."

"Good day, girls."

"Good day, Sir Nicholas," they replied in unison. Nearly Headless Nick floated away in the opposite direction.

"Oh no," Mackie groaned. Ginny looked at her, curiously, when she pointed down the corridor. Ginny suddenly felt sick.

'_Not him!'_ her mind screamed, angrily.

"Malfoy and Zabini. I get Zabini!" Mackie said, in a useless whisper, seeing as they were about a hundred feet away.

"No fair!"

"My turn, my choice. I get Zabini."

"Fine. We go on three. One..."

"Two..."

"THREE!"

Once again, they charged at their unsuspecting victims.

Even though there was no one there, Ginny yelled, "STOP THOSE BOYS! THEY HAVE COOKIES!"

Mackie giggled as Draco and Blaise Zabini gave them looks of utter surprise half a second before they got tackled.

"ZABINI! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING YOUR COOKIES?!"

"MALFOY! I KNOW YOU HAVE COOKIES, NOW GIVE THEM UP!"

"Malfoy! What... are... they talking about?!" Blaise asked his friend in between attempts trying not to laugh.

"What are you up to, Weasley?" Draco asked, not even close to laughing.

"You've got cookies, Malfoy, and we're going to find them," she replied, raising his shirt up.

"That's it! 15 points from... HEY!" He started in a fit of laughter as Ginny blew a raspberry on his stomach.

"Oh, so that's your ticklish spot, Malfoy. Who knew? Is that yours, too, Zabini?!" Mackie asked raising his shirt up just over his stomach.

"No! Malfoy... DON'T DO THAT!" he yelled at Mackie when she blew a raspberry on his stomach. He tried to hide his laughter, but failed miserably. "Malfoy, do something! Take... haha... take POINTS OR SOMETHING!"

"I... I..." he started but couldn't finish, because he was trying his hardest not to laugh. His usually pale face was plum red.

"Get off of me, Johnson!" Blaise yelled at MacKenzie and stood up, letting Mackie fall on her bum.

Malfoy forcefully pushed Ginny off of him and stood up quickly.

"Weasley, Johnson. That will be 20 points each from Gryffindor. And an extra 20 for every time that Zabini and I told you two to get off. So that will be... 100 points from Gryffindor total."

"That was nowhere even close to 100!" Mackie yelled, pushing herself off of the ground and fuming.

"That's another 20 for questioning my method of math."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Ginny roared. She pushed herself off of the ground and stared dangerously at the two boys. She was letting the Weasley temper take over, and that's never a good thing.

Draco just gave his Malfoy trademark smirk. "I can too. And that's another 20 for questioning my authority, Weasley. You two care to push it further?"

"Come on, Gin," Mackie said calmly, pulling Ginny towards the staircase. "We don't want to get in any more trouble."

"Fine," she said through clenched teeth. Ginny let MacKenzie lead her to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You alright, Ginny?" Mackie asked whenever they got inside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"I'm fine."

"Oh Kenzie!" Misty yelled, her face red, coming down the stairs of the girls' dormitories.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"I want to talk to you. Alone," she added, stealing a look at Ginny.

"I'm not really in a chit-chat mood right now. Especially with you. So I wouldn't try me right now if I were you."

"Listen, I just want to talk, not have a fight or anything."

Mackie looked at Misty then at Ginny. "Gin, you don't mind if I..."

"No, not at all. Go right ahead."

"I mean, it will only be for a minute."

"It's fine, Mackie. Just go. I'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Positive."

"Okay. I'll be right back." She got up and followed Misty to a deserted part of the room.

Ginny started playing with her hands as Hermione and Harry came running through the portrait, both red in the face and breathing heavily.

"Hey, guys. Have you been running around?"

"Yes. Trying... to... find you," Hermione said, panting.

"Me... but, why?"

"We have... to... take you to... Professor... Dumbledore's office," Harry replied, also panting.

"What? Why?! What's wrong?" she asked, quickly standing up. Harry and Hermione each grabbed an arm and pulled her, running to Professor Dumbledore's office. When they were almost there, they came across the person that they wanted to see least.

"Snape," Harry said, disdainfully. "Why him, why now?"

"Weasley. Potter. Granger. You three know that there are know running in the halls. 10 points each from Gryffindor and detention with me tonight," he barked, a smile playing on his lips, showing his crooked teeth.

"Fine!" Harry yelled, grabbed Hermione and Ginny by the hand and started running towards Professor Dumbledore's office again.

"No running!" Snape yelled after them. The three teenagers ignored him and ran the rest of the way. When they got there, they found Professor McGonagall waiting outside of the gargoyle statues for them.

She said the password and they went up the spiraling staircase to the door. "Potter. Granger. You two are to wait outside until further notice."

The two nodded and stood solemnly while Professor McGonagall led Ginny inside the office, with a very grave look on her face.

'_I can't be in trouble. No, they wouldn't have been running so fast if I was in trouble. And Professor McGonagall... she seemed worried. No, no... that was my imagination. What am I doing here?' _Ginny wondered as she walked inside.

She saw Professor Dumbledore along with Ron and the twins. Her heart started pounding as soon as she saw the looks on their faces and the fact that her brothers didn't even look her in the eye.

"Fred, George?" she managed to choke out.

Dumbledore looked at her. His eyes' usual twinkle was gone, but his voice was firm, but soft, calm, and caring. "Please sit down, Miss Weasley. We are waiting on 3 others before I tell you all what I have brought you here for."

Ginny looked around for a place to sit and Dumbledore outstretched one of his arms towards the chair in front of his desk. "Your brothers thought it best that you, a young lady, should take the chair."

Ginny glanced at Ron, then Fred and George, and shook her head violently. "If it's okay, I would like to sit in between my brothers," she replied quietly, gesturing towards the three boys.

"That is perfectly all right with me."

Ginny sat down and on either side of her were Ron and George. Ron wrapped his arms around her shoulders and Fred and George each gave her a hug.

"Headmaster, should I wait outside with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"If you wish, Minerva." Professor McGonagall nodded and walked briskly out of the room.

"What happened. Why are we here?" Ginny whispered to Ron. He shrugged.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked Fred and George. "Who's watching your shop?"

"Professor Dumbledore asked us to come," Fred answered.

"One of our trusted employees," George replied.

'They're not letting me know anything. I bet they all know what's going on and don't want to tell me!' Ginny thought, frustrated.

"So, Professor, who are we waiting for?"

"Percy, Bill, and Charlie. Who do you think?" George replied smartly.

"That is correct Mr. Weasley."

As if on cue, three red heads appeared in the fireplace.

"Hello Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley."

"Hello, Professor," they replied in unison.

"Headmaster, will you please make this quick? I have very important matters to attend to," Percy said, in his usual bossy, pompous voice.

"How are you three in the same fireplace at the same time?" Ron asked, wide-eyed.

"We're all at the Ministry of Magic," Bill replied.

"Okay, now to the reason I brought you all hear. You all know that Voldermort was defeated last year, correct?"

"Yes, Professor," they replied in unison.

"And you also know that even though he was defeated, there were still faithful servants of his running around, correct?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Well, we thought we caught them all by the summer began, but... There was one that was hidden away somewhere."

"Lucius Malfoy," Ron, Fred, George said bitterly together.

"Well, we finally found out that he was in America. Somewhere called the Grand Canyon. Ever heard of it?"

The Weasley's shook their heads, and Ginny was getting annoyed. 'Tell us why we're here! Get to the point!'

"A group of Aurors traveled to the Grand Canyon about a month ago. They found where he was apparently located, but there was only remains of what he had there. The basics such as food and clothes. He fled again. It seemed as if he was always one step ahead of us, like he was watching us."

"Headmaster, no disrespect, but could you please get to the point?" Charlie asked.

"Of course, Mr. Weasley. We finally caught him today! Good news, wouldn't you say?"

"You drug us all here just so you could tell us that stupid information? You had me worried sick!" Ginny yelled, outraged, standing up. Ron grabbed her arm and pulled her back down beside him.

"Miss Weasley, there is still more. I have some very awful news. It's where we found him. We found him in the Burrow." He paused here and looked at each of the red-heads in the eye.

"Mom and Dad!" Ginny cried. "Are... are they alright?!"

"Gin, calm down," Ron said in a shaky voice that sounded unconvincing. "I'm sure they're fine."

"I'm very sorry," Professor Dumbledore said quietly and his eyes quickly filled with tears.

"NO!" Ginny screamed, collapsing to the ground. Ron wrapped her into a tight embrace, pulling her off of the ground. Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George all hugged each other very tightly. Bill, Percy, and Charlie's heads all hung down and they were soon out of the fireplace without saying a word.

"I'll give you 4 some family time. I'll be back later," Professor Dumbledore said quietly, wiping tears from his eyes, and walking outside of the room.

Ginny head was foggy, all her thought tangled. Her throat felt dry._ 'It's not real. It doesn't seem real,' _she told herself.

"NO!" she yelled, surprised at how loud her voice was. "I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT! IT'S NOT TRUE!" She jumped up and ran out of the room, ignoring the calls of her family, Harry, Hermione, and the two Professors. She ran to the Gryffindor tower and ran into her room and locked herself in the bathroom. She slipped and hit her head on the side of the sink.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey, thanks for reading another chapter of this story..... and thanks to:**

_FlyingHamsterofDoom_ **and **_Cinder2004_** for reviewing!**


	5. Juliet III

**_Juliet III_**

Ginny woke up the next morning with her head pounding like mad.

"Oh," she groaned, throwing the blanket over her head.

"She's up!" she heard a voice squeal, and in reply, two others harshly said, "Sh!"

"Stop that bloody noise," Ginny groaned, covering her ears.

"We're sorry, Gin," someone apologetically whispered, whom Ginny concluded was Hermione.

"Leave now, everyone!" Madame Pomfrey commanded. "The girl needs her rest!"

"Poppy, would it be alright if her brothers stay with her?"

"Yes, yes. That would be quite alright, Headmaster."

"Will someone please close the drapes before my head bursts open?" Ginny moaned.

"Of course, dear." Even though her head was underneath a blanket, she could tell the room was considerably darker.

"Miss Wesley, take this for your migraine," Madame Pomfrey said. Ginny came out from underneath the soft blanket and squinted her eyes. Madame Pomfrey handed her a flask of bubbling, purple liquid.

She took the medicine and drank. She instantly felt relief; her neck and shoulder muscles were no longer tense, and her headache was completely gone.

Ginny looked around at her brothers who all had solemn looks on their faces.

"I'll leave you all to it, then," Madame Pomfrey said, walking out of the room.

There was an awkward silence in the room until Ron stammered, "Their f-funeral is going to be Wed-Wednesday."

Ginny felt tears flood her eyes, threatening to spill. "How are we going to pay for it?" she asked, quietly. "Don't funerals cost a lot of money?"

"Bill, Charlie, and Percy are all pitching in," George replied.

"Along with us," Fred added.

"What about school?"

"Professors are letting both of us out the whole week. Of course Snape wouldn't let us off that easily. Out of the goodness of his big, golden heart, he's giving us our whole week's worth of homework so we can turn it in the day we get back," Ron replied.

"Why don't I feel upset that they're dead?" Ginny asked, tears running freely down her cheeks.

"Not upset? You're crying, you know," George said, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not crying because they're dead! I'm crying because I'm not upset about their death!"

"It's just shock, Ginny. It's better than the feelings going to come. They'll feel a million times worse," Ron replied, shaking his head. "After Lavender's Mum died, it took a couple of days for it to sink in. After it did, though, she cried for months afterward."

"I feel so bad, though. They're dead, and I'm not even upset over it."

"I know what you mean, Gin," Fred said.

"It feels like Mum's at home, starting on our sweaters for Christmas," George started.

"And Dad's at the ministry, doing his job," Ron finished. "Any moment I'll get a letter from Mum either saying how proud of me she is, how disappointed she is about my bad behavior, or how much she misses me."

"And Dad sending me a sugar quill with a note that says, 'I know how much you love these! Don't tell your mother!'" Ginny added.

"Well, Bill, Charlie, and Percy are supposed to be coming tomorrow or tonight or something," Fred said.

"Oh."

"Well, we've got to go pack and close the store. See you tonight, Gin," Fred said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Ron."

"Bye," they replied in unison.

"Toodles, my youngest sister," George said, kissing Ginny's cheek.

"I'm your only sister," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"No, you're quite mistaken," he replied, eyeing Ron, who stuck his tongue out in reply.

"Bye Ron!" George said, waving and winking at him.

After that, Ron stayed by Ginny's side until it was lunch. He didn't want to leave then, but Ginny convinced him that she would be fine for an hour by herself. She was thankful when he finally left, because she really wanted to just be by herself at the time.

Madame Pomfrey brought Ginny her lunch and left, leaving Ginny to be the only occupant in the hospital wing, other than a 5th year Slytherin girl who was asleep. Even if she wasn't, Ginny wouldn't have bothered to make conversation.

After she finished her lunch, Ginny drowned herself in negative thoughts, making herself more and more upset by the minute.

'_I'm fat. Gained **16** pounds over the summer. I'm ugly. Pale skin. Stupid, flipping freckles. Flaming red hair that sticks out everywhere. Poor. I've always worn boys' clothes, all my brother's hand-me-downs. Can't ever have anything nice. Parentless. Both my parents died at that bloody Malfoy's hand. Friendless. Always the fourth wheel to Ron and his friends. Boyfriendless. I have no boyfriend because no guys like me. What a life.'_ She sighed audibly, desperately wanting to cry, but not able to shed a single tear.

'_Maybe if I died, no one would notice. Just one less burden to everyone.'_

She jumped when something landed on her shoulder. She gasped in awe when she saw what it was: a huge, black owl, each father as shiny as the last and big, round, purple eyes.

It took her a minute after studying the owl to realize that it had a red rose with silver trim and a note tied to its leg.

She took the rose and the letter off of its leg and stared at them both. _'This is for someone else,'_ she thought. _'This certainly isn't for me.'_

"Who do you belong to?" she asked the owl, tenderly stroking its beautiful feathers. She noticed there was a loose collar around its neck.

It was white, studded with emeralds. The tag on it read, _Juliet III_.

"Juliet the third?" Ginny read in surprise. "Well, Juliet. You sure are a pretty bird. Let's see who you need to deliver this to."

She flipped the letter over and the front read, _Miss Weasley_.

'_It _is_ to me.'_

She carefully opened the seal on the back and quickly read the letter.

_Ginny,_

_I'm very sorry to hear about the death of your parents. It must have been devastating. Take this rose as a token of my deepest sympathy. Also, take this owl as a present from me to you for your loss._

Ginny read and reread the letter at least 10 times before realizing they didn't sign a name. _'I wish I knew who it was from. I could thank them. Give them at least a hug.'_

She reread the card once more before placing it on her bedside table, beside the rose. Ron came in at that very moment.

"Sorry, Gin!" he panted. "I tried to hurry as fast as I could. Were you okay by yourself?"

"I was fine, Ron," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I would have been here faster, but..." He stopped mid-sentence and was staring at Juliet.

"Who's owl is that?" he asked, peering at it curiously.

"Mine."

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is. Someone sent that, a rose, and a card to me."

"It's not your birthday, is it?"

"No, Ron."

"Well... why send those things?"

"Read the letter, and maybe you'll find out."

"Oh, okay."

Ron read it a couple of times and said, "There's no name."

"Did you figure that out all by yourself, genius?"

"Juliet the third," Ron read aloud. "What a stupid name."

"Hey!" Ginny yelled, offensively, as the bird snipped at him. "I happen to like that name, and apparently Juliet does, too!"

"Stop, you bloody bird!" he yelled, swatting at it.

"Don't hit her!" Ginny screamed, jumping up, as the bird screeched at Ron. "Stop it, Ronald! You're scaring her!"

"Sorry, _Ginerva_!" He once again reached for Juliet's tag, but she bit him and he quickly pulled his hand away.

"Ginny! I saw something on the back of the tag and it won't let me read it!" he whined.

"Juliet," she cooed, stroking her feathers. "Let me read your tag, sweetie." She looked on the underside of the tag and there was a ruby in the center. Above it was inscribed: _Ginerva Ann_. Below the ruby, the word _Weasley_ was inscribed.

Ginny covered her mouth and gasped, "It's beautiful." Ron leaned over her shoulder and read it.

"Big deal. It's your name. So what?"

"Whoever sent this knows me. But I don't know anyone with this much money."

"Two words: my best friend."

"Three words, Ron: You're stupid."

"But that's only two."

Ginny rolled her eyes and scoffed. Her brother could be so thick sometimes.

* * *

**_Author's Note_: Sorry it took so long to update. Really bad writer's block. Hope you like the chapter and sorry it was so short. Thanks to the following!**

_pinkstarburst_- **Thanks, and here's the chapter!**

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**Thank you all for reviewing!**


	6. MM

**Author's Note: Hello all! I'm on the lookout for beta readers! So if you want to be a beta reader for this story, please e-mail me: ! In the subject line put: Beta Reader! Thanks so much!**

_**M.M.**_

"Juliet, would you like another owl treat?" Ginny fed her new owl, and in reply, it hooted happily.

"Ginny, I don't think you should keep that owl," Ron said, skeptically. "I mean, since Harry didn't send it, who knows who did?"

"What do you think she's going to do?" Ginny asked, annoyed. "Wait til I'm asleep and poison me with bird droppings?"

Harry snorted from across the room and Hermione chuckled from behind the book she was reading for Muggle Studies, _What is Electricity?_, but Luna Lovegood replied in her usual dream- like voice, "Owls have been known to do that, you know."

"Let me guess," Hermione said instantly, putting her book down. "There was an article in _The Quibbler _about it."

"March issue, two years ago."

Harry and Ginny both suppressed their laughter.

About an hour after Ron came to the infirmary, Harry and Hermione came in and visited Ginny. About 20 minutes afterwards, Luna wandered in, looking lost.

"So, Gin, are you able to leave yet?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, but I don't want to just yet," she admitted.

"Well, we've go to run. Sorry Gin," Ron interrupted, quickly standing up.

"Going where?!" Ginny demanded, jumping out of bed making herself dizzy.

"Be careful, Ginny!" Hermione scolded, running over to her, grabbing her arm to stabilize her.

"To quidditch practice, of course."

"Don't you remember, Gin?! Today's the first practice for Gryffindor. You told me you would come watch and tell me our weak spots and moves we need to work on!" Harry whined.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Harry. I just forgot."

"So, you're coming with us!" Harry said, joyfully, grabbing her other arm.

"Harry! There's no way I'm letting her!" Hermione shrieked as they walked out of the door, Ron and Luna following. Harry held out an arm and Juliet flew over to him, rose and letter tied securely back onto her leg, and gently landed on it.

"That's my decision, thank you!" Ginny yelled at both of them.

"I really wish you'd stay inside and rest, Ginny," Ron said quietly.

"Rest? Rest?! I've been _resting_ all day!"

"So you're coming?" Harry asked, hopefully.

"Yes, Captain Harry, I'm coming."

They all walked to the Gryffindor Common Room together, with the exception of Luna, who wandered off somewhere else.

"You guys go on without me," Ginny told them as soon as they walked through the portrait. Harry let Juliet fly onto Ginny's arm as he and Ron went upstairs to get their brooms.

"No," Hermione said firmly, stomping a foot. "What if you faint or something?"

"Faint, Hermione? That's highly unlikely," Ginny replied, rolling her eyes.

"Ginny," she said, sighing. "You can't go around, incautious. You _could_ faint, you know! Or worse! You lost quite a bit of blood, and you were out of it for such a long time! I mean-"

"Save it, Hermione. I'll be okay."

Hermione furrowed her brow and bit her lip, apparently trying hard not to say something 'know-it-all' to Ginny. She exhaled and calmly said, "Please Ginny. Just let me stay and walk with you out there." Then, she playfully pouted and put on her puppy dog eyes.

"Come on, Hermione. We've got our brooms," Ron said, walking towards the portrait, Harry following.

"Fine, you can walk me."

Hermione grinned at Ginny and said, "We'll be out there later. I'm going to wait for Ginny."

After they left, she went upstairs to take a shower and Hermione stayed in the Common Room to wait. _'Finally!' _Ginny thought, happily. _'I've been waiting since yesterday to take a shower!'_

* * *

Ginny walked out of the shower, refreshed and happy. She walked over to her bed and put on the clothes she had chosen to wear out to the quidditch pitch. A bright orange, baggy shirt and a pair of blue jeans that had holes on each knee. She grabbed a ponytail holder, and pulled her hair into a tight ponytail.

Ginny sat on top of her bed, and untied the letter and rose from Juliet's leg.

"I'm sorry, Juliet," she cooed. "I forgot to take this off of you." Ginny stroked the beautiful owl's feathers and asked, "Do you know where the owlery is?" When the bird hooted, she replied, "You can go there to rest and sleep, if you'd like."

As the bird took flight, Ginny deeply sighed. _'Such a beautiful owl. Who sent it?'_

Just then an idea popped into her head. She grabbed a piece of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle, stuffed them into her book bag, and quickly headed downstairs to get Hermione.

* * *

"Can you believe it?!" Harry growled after a 2 ½ hour quidditch practice. "I told Danny that our practice was today at least 15 times!" He and Ron were covered head to toe in sweat and some grass stains. They even both had some blood and bruises on themselves from where the bludgers hit them.

"I know!" Ron yelled angrily. "And it didn't help that Trish twisted her wrist when she fell running out to the pitch!"

"Who's Danny and Tish?" Hermione asked Ginny. They were following Harry and Ron because they didn't want their heads to get bitten off.

"They're the beaters," she whispered back.

"At our next practice, I'm going to make them do so many drills, they'll puke!" Harry yelled, infuriated. As they reached the doors to the castle, Ginny remembered something.

"I have to go to the owlery, you guys. I'll see you at supper."

"Okay," the two boys grumbled. Hermione raised her eyebrows in question, but held her tongue.

Ginny ran as fast as she could to the owlery and called Juliet down from where she sat.

"Juliet, I want to you to deliver a letter for me, okay?" She took a piece of parchment from her bag and read it:

_Thank you for the gracious present you've given me, but I really don't deserve it. I don't know if you did this intentionally or accidentally, but you didn't sign your name. I really wish I knew who you were. Where did you get the rose? It's beautiful, but I've never seen one like it. Once again, thank you._

_Ginny Weasley_

She was most of the way satisfied with the letter, so she decided to send it just like it was. She tied the letter to Juliet's leg and whispered, "Will you please deliver this to the person who gave you to me?"

Juliet hooted in understanding and quickly took off.

* * *

Ginny was jogging to the Gryffindor portrait when the most unpleasant of the unpleasant happened.

"Oof!"

"Ouch!"

She was knocked to the ground, hard. She quickly stood up and rubbed her bum.

"Apologize," a voice commanded. She looked at who the voice came from and inwardly groaned. She looked at his eye, and her anger almost disappeared. He had a big, purple and blue bruise on his left eye.

"Where'd that bruise come from, Malfoy?" she asked him, grinning.

"Ah, Weasley. I should have guessed it was you. Watch where you're going next time, you clumsy little girl. Now I have to go and scrub forever to get your stench off of me," he replied, ignoring her question.

"Shove it, Malfoy. I was having an excellent day until now, so I'm not going to let you ruin it!"

Ginny walked quickly away from him and started back on her way to the Gryffindor portrait, until something curious reached her ears.

She heard an owl screech and from a distance she heard Draco say, "Hello, Juliet. Long time, no see."

Ginny quickly whipped around. "What did you call that bird, Malfoy?" she demanded.

He turned around and she thought she saw nervousness in his eyes, but if it was, it was only a fraction of a second.

"Juliet. What is it to you?"

She quickly walked over to the spot he was standing at, holding a black owl.

"Give me my owl, Malfoy!" she yelled.

"It's not your owl, Weasley," he said, cooly.

"It is so, now hand her over!"

"It is not!"

Ginny glared at him, then studied the owl. It was identical to her owl except for one thing. It had bright blue eyes.

Really annoyed and embarrassed, Ginny turned quickly and stalked away. _'Another embarrassing encounter with the spawn of Satan,'_ she thought grumpily to herself, her cheeks reddening.

* * *

After supper, Ginny went back to the safety of her bed and found Juliet sitting on her bed with a letter attached to her leg.

"Thank you, Juliet!" Ginny squealed, stroking her bird and taking the letter from her. Juliet puffed her chest out proudly.

_Ginny, _

_No need to thank me. Of course you deserve it. Your parents died. It was on purpose that I didn't sign my name. I don't think you'd appreciate it as much if you knew who the gift came from. I got the rose from my private garden at home. The only appears in the coldest part of the world, but we cast a special freezing charm on it. It doesn't need watering but the charm needs to be cast on it once every two months. Send Juliet back to me October 8 with the rose. I will be honored to cast the charm for you._

_M.M._

Ginny read it and smiled. This person really made her day. Especially after the embarrassing

run-in with ((she shuddered)) Malfoy. He just made her so angry, she couldn't stand it.

She took out a piece of parchment, her quill, and her ink bottle. She wrote a small note to 'M.M.':

_M.M.,_

_What does M.M. stand for, exactly? Your initials, maybe?_

With an owl treat, she sent Juliet on her way.

* * *

**_Author's Note:_ Hope this chapter isn't too disappointing. I'm going to try my hardest to get the next chapter up here by tomorrow, and I'm going to try to put a _lot_ more Draco/Ginny action in the next chapter, also! Thanks to the following:**

_Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's_- **Thanks, again! And Ginny will get some help... very, very soon, by a certain someone... hmm....**

_LunarianPrincess_- **Thank you so much!**

_Morena Evensong_- **Thanks for the review and the idea about the eye! Wonder who it came from.... lol! And the reason the owl hates Ron is because he called her stupid.... I think.. Hmmm....**

_Fireylove_- **Thank you, and here's more!**

_SlainBySpike_- **Thank you, thank you! And a couple people have suggested to me to get a beta reader, so I'm on the lookout. Thank you again, and LONG REVIEWS ARE OKAY IN MY BOOK! lol!**

_restless-soul63_- **Thank you! The owl may be from Draco, GUESS! Thank you again.**

**Thank you all for the millionth time for reviewing! It really means a lot!**


	7. Couldn't Be, Could It?

**Author's Note: Hello all! Once again, I need a beta reader! I really, really, really need one! So if you want to be a beta reader for this story, please e-mail ! In the subject line put: Beta Reader! Thanks so much!**

_**Couldn't Be, Could It?**_

Ginny had just finished braiding MacKenzie's hair when Juliet came flying back in.

"Ooh, who's owl is that?" she asked in awe.

"Mine," Ginny replied proudly, stroking the bird's feathers. Then she explained to MacKenzie and Misty how she got her.

"Oh, I wonder who it could be!" Mackie squealed. "I bet it's Mark Maxwell! I saw him in the Common Room a few minutes ago."

"It could be Michael Mann, that really wealthy Hufflepuff! Not to mention, he's really hot!" Misty replied. Ginny and her were back on speaking terms, and better friends than before.

Mackie explained to Ginny what happened, and why Misty was mad at her. Kevin (Ginny's ex, the Ravenclaw) was Misty's boyfriend at the time that he and Ginny started dating. She and Ginny had a long talk, and Ginny explained that she had no idea whenever they started dating. It was the reason they broke up, too. He had also cheated on Ginny.

"Ooh, ooh! Or..... ooh! Maybe it's Max Morgan, the Ravenclaw!" MacKenzie replied, clapping her hands. "Ooh! Or the other Ravenclaw, Mark Mosely! Or-" Ginny cut her off.

"Or we can just read the note."

"Yeah," the other two replied in unison.

Ginny carefully tore the seal, and read the letter.

_Ginny,_

_No, those are not my initials. It stands for Mystery Man. Now, I have to go. I'm studying to be an auror, but this is known only to me and my head of house. It takes a lot of time and energy, so I'll be going now._

_M.M._

"Those aren't even his initials!" MacKenzie exclaimed, reading the letter over Ginny's shoulder.

"Why doesn't he want you to know who he is?" Misty asked her.

"He said something in his last letter about me not appreciating the things as much if I knew who it came from."

"That is a load of bull!" Misty said. "I mean _I _would appreciate it, even if it came from _Malfoy_."

Ginny made a disgusted face. "I wouldn't go that far!" she said, laughing. "Have you guys seen him today? He's got a huge bruise on his eye!"

"Your brother did that!" Mackie said, delighfully.

"Really? When?"

"Umm... earlier today, I think. Around lunch. Got a month's worth of detention for it from McGonagall."

"Yeah, he did it right there, in front of the whole school!" Misty added. "McGonagall swooped down on him like a hawk!"

"That must have been why he was 'late' this afternoon. He never got around to telling me _why_, though!" Ginny said, grinning.

"Back to this Mystery Man," Mackie said delightfully, changing the subject. "He's studying to be an auror. That tells us something. He's smart and can handle pressure well."

"Not to mention, he has quick reflexes," Misty added.

"So, are you going to write him back?" Mackie asked.

"No."

"What?! Why?"

"I don't want to seem like a bother."

"A bother?"

"Gin!"

"Don't try to talk me out of it. I don't want him to think I'm lonely or something."

"Fine," Mackie said, rolling her eyes. "But, we gotta run. I promised your brother and Harry that I would watch them play Wizard Chess, then play the winner. And Misty wanted to come, too."

"Alright. Have fun."

"We will! You should come down there and watch us later!"

"I might."

"Okay, then!" She and Misty went downstairs, leaving Ginny and Juliet in the room.

"Juliet," Ginny cooed, stroking the owl. "Y-your eyes!" she said shocked. The owl's eyes were no longer purple, but bright blue. Ginny stared at the owl's eyes for about 5 minutes, then they slowly started changing from bright blue to seafoam green.

Ginny gasped in surprise and looked at the owl's tag, and sure enough it said _Juliet III._

* * *

It was October 7, and Ginny was laying on her bed, crying once again. The first time her parents' death really hit her was on the day of their funeral, and it was horrible. Ron was right. It was the worst feeling she's ever had. A day hadn't passed since then that Ginny didn't cry. She even found Ron crying a couple of times.

Juliet was sitting right beside her, hooting gently. Ginny gently stroked her.

She got up off of her bed, grabbed her book bag, and opened it. She grabbed the 3 letters written from M.M. and read them. They always seemed to make her feel a _little_ better.

When she got to the one that mentioned the freezing charm, she grabbed a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled:

_M.M._

_Here's the rose. I thought I would send it a day early, just in case._

_Ginny_

She sealed and tied the letter and the rose to Juliet's leg. "Take this to the person who gave you to me."

Juliet hooted and took off through the window. Ginny laid back down on the bed and tears started pouring down her face, again.

"Gin, we're going to Hogsmeade. Are you sure you don't want to come? Fred and George would be more than happy to see you," Hermione said, opening the 6th year girls' dorm door.

"I'm positive," Ginny said, sitting up and wiping her face. "Could you tell Ron to bring me back some chocolate or something?"

"Yeah. For the last time, are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Thanks. Tell him I owe him."

"Okay. See you later tonight."

"Alright."

Hermione left and Ginny sat there for a little while before deciding to go to the library. She had tons of homework to do for Potions, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Ginny sat her books, book bag, and parchment down on a table, and went to the bookshelves to search for books to help her with her three essays.

When she got the 7 books she thought would help her, she went back to the little round table, sat the books down, then plopped down into the chair.

"Okay," she mumbled to herself. "Let's see here. I'll start with... Transfiguration. Get it out of the way." She grabbed the two books that she got from the shelf, _Transfigurations Gone Bad _and _The Correct Method of Transfiguration: From A to Z,_ her Transfiguration book, a piece of parchment, an ink bottle, and a quill.

She got started when she heard a loud crash from the back of the library. She quickly stood up and tiredly walked to where the noise was made.

"Malfoy?!" Draco stood there with a guilty look on his face. He was standing by a tipped over bookshelf.

"Weasley. Go away!" he hissed, waving his hand. She glared back with her puffy eyes.

"What did you do?" she asked menacingly, with her hands placed on her hips.

"None of your business, now do what I said and _go away_!" He bent over and tried to pick the bookshelf up, but couldn't do it by himself.

"You are a _wizard_, you know. You could use magic to pick it back up," she said, matter-of- factly.

"I don't have my wand with me," he hissed. "It's in my robes. Why am I even giving you an explanation?" He shook his head, and tried picking up the bookshelf again. He got it pretty far off the ground, but could not pick it all the way up.

"Move out of the way, Malfoy," Ginny said amused, pulling her wand out of her pocket.

"Just go away, Weasley," he growled.

"Madame Pince would hate to find out that you knocked one of her shelves over," Ginny said, sighing, fingering her wand.

"What do you want?" he asked, in a low voice.

"Just move, Malfoy. I'll clean this all up."

"Why?" he asked, whipping around.

'_Why _am_ I doing this?'_ She couldn't answer herself, so she shrugged. "If you don't need help, then I'll just go back to my business."

"Weasley, wait. Just hurry up and clean this mess. It's awful," he replied, standing up.

She looked skeptically at him for a moment, then murmured the words to the spell, and the bookshelf was back to new.

Ginny turned around and saw Juliet flying into the library. She was about to hold an arm out for the bird, but it flew right past her. She turned around and saw Juliet land on Draco's shoulder. He looked at her, then the bird, then at her.

Ginny quickly shook her head disbelievingly, gathered her things, and ran out of the library.

* * *

When Ginny was finally back in her room, she was breathing hard. She sat down on her bed, hugged her knees to her chest, and buried her head into her knees.

'_Malfoy's not M.M. He can't be! It couldn't be, could it?'_

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry if I'm slipping. I hope it's not too disappointing. And I'm sorry if Ginny seems _too_ friendly to Malfoy, but I was trying not to make it that way, but I was also kind of trying to speed things up, because this is already the 7th chapter, and they've barely had any interaction. Anyways, hershey kisses to those who guessed that M.M. stood for Mystery Man! Thanks to the following:**

_FlyingHampsterofDoom- _**Thank you for the lovely comment, and thank you for reminding me about the whole Misty and Ginny thing. I had forgotten completely about it.**

_turrah- _**Thank you! Thank you! I kind of got it off of Cheaper By the Dozen. _Kind of._ LoL!**

_Alotua- _**Thanks so much for the 3 reviews! LoL!**

_Cinnamon Angel- _**Thank you, so much!**

_xxsufferingnemptysilencexx-_** Thank you, and here's more!**

_Morena Evensong_- **LoL, thank you!**

_beckysue2- _**Thank you! Thanks bunchies!**

_SheWhoIsBeautifulInDeath- _**Thank you! And if you haven't figured it out, you will soon.**

_LunarianPrincess- _**Thanks a bunchies!**

_Alessa Embers- _**Omg, thanks so much! It means a lot!**

_Fireylove-_** LoL, thanks, and here's the chappy!**

**Thanks again bunchies to all who reviewed! Luv ya bunchies! Hershey kisses to all of you!**


	8. Ginny's and Draco's Runin

_**Ginny's and Draco's Run-in**_

**__**

Ginny sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, rocking back and forth.

"Gin?" Hermione asked uncertainly, peering into the room. "A-are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, burying her head in her hands.

"Umm..." Hermione was biting her lip and wringing her hands. "May I come in?"

Ginny shrugged in reply. Hermione came in and sat on the bed beside Ginny's.

"Here's your chocolate," Hermione said, handing Ginny a fairly large box. "Ron and I came back early from Hogsmeade. We weren't having very much fun."

"Thanks," Ginny said, taking the box and putting it down beside her bed. "Didn't Harry go with you guys?"

"No. He stayed here to practice Quidditch. That's another reason we came back early. Ron wanted to practice with Harry."

"Oh." Juliet flew in through the window and landed beside Ginny, softly hooting.

Ginny lifted her head, showing puffy, red eyes, and tear-stained, freckled cheeks.

"Hey, girl," she said, taking the letter and rose off of the owl's leg.

"Did you ever find out who it's from?" Hermione asked.

"Nope." She flung the rose onto the floor and carelessly opened the letter.

_Ginny,_

_Told you so._

_M.M._

_P.S. Send the rose back December 8._

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. _'Told me what?'_ she asked herself, irritated.

She was trying to make herself forget about the library incident, but no luck whatsoever.

"Umm... Gin, I know it's none of my business or anything," Hermione said, standing up. "But why did you throw that rose down?" She walked over to the rose and picked it up.

Ginny shrugged, and crumpled the letter. "Will you leave me alone for a bit, Hermione? I'm not in the best mood right now," she lied. Truthfully, she wanted to write 'M.M.' back.

"Of course. I'll be in the Common Room," Hermione said, leaving.

Ginny grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from her bedside table drawer.

She dipped the quill in the ink bottle already sitting on the table.

_M.M._

_You told me what, exactly? And are you who I think you are? Because I think I know who you are.... Are you?_

_Ginny_

She rolled up the parchment and tied it to Juliet's leg.

"Give that to the boy who gave you to me," Ginny told the bird, stroking her. With a soft hoot, she flew out the window.

Barely 10 minutes later, Juliet was back with a reply.

Ginny took a deep breath as she untied the letter and opened it, praying that it was _anyone_besides.....

_Weasley,_

_You _know_ it's me. Oh, and I told you that you wouldn't appreciate the gifts as much since you know who they came from. And guess what. I was right._

_D.M._

Ginny read and reread it, her fears confirmed. Her Mystery Man was none other than the Ice Prince of Slytherin himself, Draco Malfoy.

Ginny threw the letter down, infuriated.

'_I hate him! His pathetic excuse for a father killed my parents! If it weren't for his father, _I'd_ still have a father! And a mother!'_

Tears both of rage and grief flowed silently down her cheek. She jumped up from her bed; grabbed her cloak, and dashed quickly from her room.

"Gin!" Hermione said startled, when Ginny came running through.

"I'll be back!" Ginny called, exiting through the portrait.

As soon as she was outside the portrait, she slowed her pace to a walk, wiped her face, and put her cloak on.

She walked downstairs, all the way to the entrance doors. As soon as she threw the door open, she was met by a gust of wind and lightly falling rain.

Ginny wandered around the deserted grounds, with the exception of a straggler here and there, making the way back to the castle.

She sat down in front of a tree by the lake and pulled her knees into her chest, resting her chin on them.

Even though it was very chilly, and the wind and sprinkling rain was making her eyes water and her cheeks sting, Ginny was enjoying it out there.

The lake, for instance, was a breathtaking sight. The water was crystal clear, and the small part of the sun that _was_ showing, reflected off the water.

Ginny sighed to herself and shivered.. _'It looks like a miniature ocean.'_

After a few minutes, the wind died down and the rain stopped. Ginny sighed again. The smell of the fresh rain and the view of the lake calmed Ginny.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice asked in her ear.

She jumped up and turned around, breathing hard.

"Harry! You scared me to death!" she screamed, lightly punching his arm.

"Sorry, Gin! I didn't mean to scare you that bad!" he said, laughing, holding onto his broom for support. Ron came running up behind him, carrying his broom. They both had rosy cheeks.

"Hey Gin!" Ron said, breathing heavy.

"Hey Ron! Did you two have fun?"

"Tons!" Ron said, grinning. "I won the game we played against each other!"

"We played just for fun, though," Harry said, rubbing his neck. "I didn't try very hard."

"Sure, Harry. Keep telling yourself that," Ginny said, rubbing his arm, giggling.

"We're going to play another game in a minute. Want to play with us if we can find another person?"

"No thanks. Why are you going to play another game?"

"We only played to 50 points last time," Ron said, chuckling.

"Didn't even bother to get the snitch out, but we're going to play a 'real' fake game this time."

"We wanted to Hermione to watch us. Want to watch us, too?"

"I might for a couple of minutes. I want to sit out here for a little while longer though."

"Alright, Gin. We'll come get you before we start the game," Harry said.

"Okay. Bye guys!" she yelled after Ron and Harry. Since she was already standing up, she decided to walk around the grounds for a little while. When she got near the front doors, she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking out of the castle.

"Hey Gin!" Hermione said. "We're going to the pitch, now! Are you coming?"

"Not right now. Maybe in a little bit."

"Oh, okay. I'll save you a seat!" she said, chuckling.

"Okay," Ginny replied, cocking an eyebrow at her friend.

"I know, I know. Pitiful excuse for a joke!"

"Well, see you!" Harry said, walking to the Quidditch pitch.

"Bye!"

The trio walked off and Ginny stared after them.

"I thought you said you all were friends," a voice whispered maliciously into her ear.

She jumped and turned around, her hand on her chest. "What," she hissed, "are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"What? I don't have the same privilege as you to walk around the grounds if I want to?" he asked innocently.

Ginny glared into his cold, silver eyes. "You shouldn't have." She turned around to leave, but a hand caught her shoulder, and forcefully turned her around.

"Why?" he hissed.

"Your excuse for a father _killed_ my parents! He _killed_ them!" she screamed shrilly at him, her eyes slowly filling with tears. _'Don't cry in front of him, Ginerva!'_ she scolded herself.

"That," he said in a deadly whisper, "has nothing to do with me. Yes he did kill them, but he also got what he deserved."

"And what's that?" she asked, crossing her arms, trying to keep her voice steady. Her eyes were welled up and her throat became incredibly dry.

"The kiss," he whispered lightly. Ginny had to strain her ears to hear, though they were face to face.

"Really?" she gasped. To tell the truth, she was dead happy about it.

"Don't act like you feel guilty, or even surprised. He _did _deserve it. I know he did," he said coldly. "But I'm nothing like my father, much to your disbelief." Draco turned around to leave, but Ginny had the sudden urge to stop him.

"I-Malfoy!"

"What?" he asked, his back still turned to her.

"Th... um, er.... thank you."

"What are you talking about Weasley?" he asked, turning around, staring suspiciously at her.

"For Juliet. A-and the rose."

"It wasn't a problem, Weasley." He turned around to leave again, but Ginny, again, had the urge to stop him.

"Why, though?"

"Why what?"

"Why the presents?"

"Your parents died."

"Surely that's not the only reason. You didn't get Ron anything."

Draco turned around, part amusement and part irritation written on his face. "I didn't think a rose or an elegant owl fit him very well."

"True."

Draco stayed turned to Ginny this time. "Anymore questions?"

"No."

"Then I have one for you. Why did you help me earlier in the library?"

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. I just help people, I guess."

"Oh." With that he was off.

Ginny sighed. _'What in merlin's name was that about?'_

* * *

**Author's Note: Hmm.. I thought this chapter was fairly interesting. How bout you? Reviews are much appreciated, thanks! Thanks a _lot_ to the following:**

_beckysue2- _**LoL, none of us are getting any younger! Anywayz, we're getting closer!**

_Cinnamon Angel-_** LoL, I hope this chapter is more to your liking! About the beta reader thing, thank you though, but I've decided I don't need one. I don't care how bad my stories suck, as long as I've got reviews! Hehehe! And here's the update!**

_restless-soul63- _**Thanks! And here's the update!**

_MerlinHalliwell-_** Thanks, and I'm pretty sure she found out, alright! Hehehe! Here's the update!**

_Morena Evensong-_** LoL, I love the Mummy! I wish I would have thought of that at the time... we're not exactly sure how he made an entire bookshelf topple over.... Hm... And it was Ginny's owl he had. Thanks and here's the update!**

**I hope this chapter was as good as you thought the others were. I'm trying to keep up my writing skills. I'm not in English this semester (we do 4 classes each semester instead of 8 classes every day), and I'm also in AC English, so I have to keep my writing skills well.... Anywayz, once again, please review!**


	9. Romeo III

_**Romeo III**_

Ginny wandered into the stands on the quidditch pitch and sat beside Hermione in the Gryffindor cheering section.

"Hey Ginny!"

"Hey. Who's winning?"

"Um... Whoever has more points..."

Ginny laughed. "Thanks, Herm."

Hermione chuckled and said, "I'm athletically challenged. I simply have no clue when it comes to sports!"

"Why do you bother going to games then?"

"Harry and Ron are my best friends. There's also the fact that I've had a crush on Ron _forever_ and he was always there. Plus he's my boyfriend now."

"Yeah, but you don't even like quidditch that much!"

"It makes them happy. I love seeing them happy. It used to be very rarely that I got to see them smile, but since Voldemort and his deatheaters have been defeated, they're almost always happy and stress free. I want to savor that as much as possible."

"You have a point," Ginny said, sighing.

"There's just one more person I wish I could see happy," Hermione added, eyeing Ginny.

"I know. I try, 'Mione, I really do."

"I know you do, Gin." She wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulder. "And I promise, some day you won't have to even _try_. The happiness will just come. I know it will."

"I wish it would hurry up," Ginny half-joked.

"I have an idea!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up.

"What?" Ginny asked, startled.

"Next Friday, you and I could have a girls' night out!"

"Out?"

"Not literally _out_, but a sort of muggle slumber party thing. How does that sound?"

"Like fun."

"Really? Or are you just saying that?"

"Really!" Ginny assured her.

"Okay, well-"

"We're finished!" Harry yelled in Ginny's ear.

"We're not deaf!" Ginny yelled back.

"How did it go?" Hermione asked, innocently.

"You mean you weren't watching?" Ron asked, crestfallen.

"Sorry, Ron. We got to talking," Ginny said, full of guilt. "She watched most of it though, if you guys are through and already up here," she reasoned.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "I mean, you guys probably only played less than a minute after we started talking."

"Oh. Okay."

"Let's go get washed up for supper," Harry said.

Ron left, followed by Harry and Hermione. Ginny started to leave, but someone roughly grabbed her arm.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, turning around, but no one was there. Then, Draco Malfoy appeared out of nowhere, holding a silver cloak.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, irritably.

"I just need to know something, Weasley."

"What?" she snapped.

"Do you _really_ think I'm as bad as my father?" There was something weird in his voice, but Ginny couldn't decipher it. It sounded like a mixture of hurt and confusion, but she assumed she was imagining things.

"You followed me up her to ask a question as ridiculous as _that_?" she asked in disbelief, turning to go. Draco grabbed her arm a second time.

"Just tell me, Weasel."

"Of course I do!" she exploded. "You're a nasty, rude git who needs the exact same thing done to him that was done to his father!"

His mouth dropped open for a split second. He narrowed his silver eyes and turned his glare to the pitch. Ginny turned on her heel and ran quickly back to the castle.

'_If the little bugger had it coming, why do I feel so bad about what I just did?'_ She growled to herself. Something was bugging her, but she didn't know what it was, exactly.

* * *

At supper, Ginny deliberately sat on the side of the Gryffindor table facing the Slytherin table. 

Every once in a while, she would glance up at the Slytherin table to find a pair of menacing, silver eyes staring daggers at her. She finally had enough and excused herself to her dorm.

Juliet was perched on the window sill and Ginny had a sudden urge to write a letter.

_MM_

_Even though I'm pretty sure you deserve to be told off, you didn't deserve what I said. I'm sorry and I ask that you accept this box of chocolate as a token of my sincerest apologies. It's the least I can do._

_Ann_

Ginny hesitated before sealing it up. _'Should I really send this? I mean, I do feel bad about what I said, but he'll just think I'm apologizing because he's _so_ menacing,'_ she thought, rolling her eyes. She finally decided against her better judgement and went with the gut feeling she had to send him the letter.

She laid down on her bed and slowly closed her eyes. She didn't know how sleepy she actually was until then. She yawned and took a short nap before Juliet woke her up about 5 minutes later, with a letter tied to her leg.

_Ann_

_How very clever to use your middle name. I don't accept your apology, but I do, however, except these delicious chocolates. And yes, _Ann, _I did deserve what you said. I deserve every word of it. And I also think it's best if you don't write me again. I don't want to have a guilty conscience because I write letters back and forth with a filthy, disgusting _Weasley._ Send Juliet my best, Weasel._

_YS_

_P.S. In case your wondering, YS means Your Superior, Weasel-bee._

Ginny growled in disgust. _'I can't believe I felt sorry for that jerk! I'm so flipping stupid!'_

She quickly threw the letter onto the floor and growled again. Laying back down on the bed, she quickly fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

"Ginny!" someone screeched. 

"Shut up!" Ginny yelled, throwing her pillow over her head.

"Ginny! What in the world is this?!" MacKenzie asked, holding up a piece of parchment.

"I don't know! Let me sleep!"

"'I don't want to have a guilty conscience because I write letters back and forth with a filthy, disgusting Weasley?! Send Juliet my best, Weasel?! Your Superior, _Weasel-bee?!_' Gin! Are you writing letters to _Malfoy?!_"

Ginny's eyes snapped open when she realized what her friend was talking about. She quickly sat up.

"Of course not! Do you really think I'm that stupid?!"

"What is all this about, then?"

"It's nothing! Hermione and I were wondering what it'd be like if Malfoy had ever written a letter to one of us, so I tried it out. Pretty convincing, huh?" Ginny just prayed that _she_ was convincing.

"Okay, whatever," she snapped. MacKenzie stormed out of the room quickly, throwing the letter down.

'_That stupid idiot! Why did he use names like Weasley and Weasel?! Now everyone knows who it's from and who it's to!'_

Ginny jumped out of bed, realizing that she was still wearing her clothes from the day before. She took a quick shower, changed into some baggy pants with holes all in them, and a baggy lime green shirt, throwing her hair up into an upside down bun.

She quickly grabbed the letter MacKenzie threw on the floor and stuffed it inside her book bag, along with the other letters Draco had written her.

'_I'm going to burn these stupid letters!'_ she decided furiously. She started a fire in a wastebasket that was sitting beside her bed and grabbed all the letters.

_Ginny,_

_I'm very sorry to hear about the death of your parents. It must have been devastating. Take this rose as a token of my deepest sympathy. Also, take this owl as a present from me to you for your loss._

'_Rubbish!'_ she thought angrily. However, she placed it on her night stand instead of throwing it away. _'I'm only keeping it to remind me of the day I got Juliet,'_ Ginny tried to reassure herself.

_Ginny, _

_No need to thank me. Of course you deserve it. Your parents died. It was on purpose that I didn't sign my name. I don't think you'd appreciate it as much if you knew who the gift came from. I got the rose from my private garden at home. The only appears in the coldest part of the world, but we cast a special freezing charm on it. It doesn't need watering but the charm needs to be cast on it once every two months. Send Juliet back to me October 8 with the rose. I will be honored to cast the charm for you._

_M.M._

'_Also a load of rubbish!' _She placed it carefully on top of the other letter. _'It reminds me of the beautiful rose,'_ she once again tried to reassure herself.

_Ginny,_

_No, those are not my initials. It stands for Mystery Man. Now, I have to go. I'm studying to be an auror, but this is known only to me and my head of house. It takes a lot of time and energy, so I'll be going now._

_M.M._

A third time, she place the letter aside instead of burning it. _'I have to be sure and ask Malfoy if he really is going to be an auror. This will surely remind me.'_

_Ginny,_

_Told you so._

_M.M._

_P.S. Send the rose back December 8._

Ginny stared at the letter for about 10 minutes, her mouth wide open. _'Why in merlin's name did he write _Ginny _if he knew that I already knew who he was?'_

She stuffed the letter in her back pocket, put out the fire, and grabbed all the letters and stuffed them into the bottom of her trunk, with the exception of the one in her back pocket. She quickly stood up and looked around the room for Juliet.

'_She must be sleeping.'_ Ginny ran all the way to the owlery, even after the warnings of Hermione trailing after her.

"Juliet!" she hissed, not wanting to wake any of the other owls. She looked hard for Juliet up in the rafters, but didn't see her anywhere. "Juliet!" she hissed again.

"Looking for your bird, Weasley?" Ginny stiffened, then turned around, finding Draco towering over her, with two owls on his right arm: a pure, white snow owl and a pure black owl.

"Malfoy, give me my bird," she said backing up for breathing room.

"It's not your bird, Weasley."

"That won't work this time, Malfoy! I know it's her!"

"Fine, Weasley. Here you go." He let Juliet fly over to Ginny's extended arm. Ginny gently stroked the bird and it hooted in delight.

"Who were you going to write?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her and obviously trying to hide a smile.

"What's it to you?" she asked, defensively.

Draco shrugged. "Merely asking an innocent question. Aren't I allowed to ask a simple question?"

"Not one that intervenes with someone's private life."

"You don't _have_ a private life, Weasley. I know _exactly_ who you were going to write. It's that handsome, charming, young man in 7th year, isn't it?"

"No, I was not going to write Harry, for your information," Ginny replied, trying her hardest not to giggle. His reaction made her forget the humor she saw in it.

Draco's eyes, which were filled with humor at first, were now narrowed and cold. He patted the white owl on his arm, fed it an owl treat, and let it fly off into the rafters.

He turned and started to leave but said menacingly, "I meant what I said in my last letter, Weasley. Don't send anymore." He left, mumbling something that sounded to Ginny like, "You're an idiot, Draco."

* * *

Ginny brought Juliet to her room and sat her on the window sill, stroking her. 

"Juliet," Ginny purred at the owl. "I love you." The owl nipped affectionately at Ginny.

"Gin, I got a letter!" MacKenzie exclaimed, running into the dorm, apparently forgetting her anger with her from earlier.

"Great for you," Ginny grumbled.

"Not for me, you silly goose! For you!"

"M-me?" Ginny stuttered. She walked over to the letter MacKenzie was holding.

"Yeah! This owl came to me and I don't think it will leave until you write a letter back!" she said, grinning. "I think you have an admirer! It could be MM, but I don't know."

Ginny quickly opened it and read it.

_G.W._

_Please take this rose._

_Y.S._

Ginny glanced up and noticed that MacKenzie was holding out a rose almost identical to the one Draco gave her with Juliet, with the exception the rose was purple and pink swirled with silver trim. She also noticed that the owl MacKenzie was talking about. It was a pure, white snow owl.

Blood rushed unwillingly into Ginny's cheeks.

"Ooh! Someone's blushing!" MacKenzie gushed.

"I w-wonder who it could be," Ginny choked out, knowing perfectly who it was.

"I don't know...." MacKenzie sat and pondered it for a moment. "You should write him a letter back, though. Otherwise someone," she nodded towards the owl, "won't leave."

Ginny grinned and quickly ran down to the Common Room, MacKenzie on her tail. They sat down at a table and Ginny began scribbling away:

_Y.S._

_What's the rose for, exactly? What does Y.S. stand for? Who is this? An admirer perhaps?_

_G.W._

Ginny giggled as she folded it and wrapped it around the owl's leg.

MacKenzie suddenly jumped up. "Oh no! I'm supposed to meet Misty at the library in 5 minutes! Bye Ginny!"

Ginny watched her friend dash out of the portrait and crumpled the letter up and wrote a different one:

_D.M._

_What's the flipping rose for? I thought it best not to _'write letters back and forth with a filthy, disgusting'_ you-know-what I am... What happened to that? And I refuse to write you as long as: 1. You're still the biggest git in the world and 2. You use the initials Y.S., because you are _no one's_ superior._

_Ann_

Ginny tied the letter to the owl's outstretched leg and noticed something. It had a black collar with a gold tag on it. Curious, Ginny flipped it over, read the back, read the front, then gasped.

On the back, _Draco Lucius_ was inscribed above a green emerald. Below it was inscribed _Malfoy_.

On the front, _Romeo III_ was inscribed in beautiful, cursive writing, exactly like Juliet's tag.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for the update, but here it is! I think the last chapter and this chapter are by far the best in this story so far! Don't you think so, too? Anyways, that's my opinion! Also, thanks to the following:**

_Damia -_** Queen of the Gypsi's- Oh my gosh! Thanks! And I know, D/G rox!**

_Cinnamon Angel-_** LoL, thanks! Sorry the update wasn't that fast!**

_beckysue2- _**LoL, it will come. Eventually.... ::snickers evilly::**

_Fireylove-_** Thank ya's!**

_MaRz-_** Thanks! I know you said this wasn't your pen name, but oh well! And here's the next chapter!!! You like?**

_LunarianPrincess-_** Well, thank you!**

_wishing4more-_** Well thank you! And sorry I didn't update fast!**

_zenni-_** I know, doesn't D/G just rock?! Thanks!**

**I'm in English now! Yay! But all we're working on is diagraming and charting parts of a sentence... ::sigh:: Oh, well. I hope this chappy was good!**

**Oh yeah, this story will also be on FictionAlley in about a week! So I'll post the link up here for it in case you have a name there! Luv yall!**

**Hb**


	10. He Called Me Ginny

_**He Called Me Ginny**_

* * *

'_Romeo? Juliet? That's Shakespeare, that is. But isn't Shakespeare a _muggle _author? And the first night back at Hogwarts.... He _knew_ I was singing a muggle song! Ooh, this is _too_ good!'_ Ginny thought, gleefully, sending Romeo on his way. 

"Hey Ginny!" Collin said, plopping down next to her.

"Hey Collin!"

"I'm glad to see that you're happy, again! I mean, it was really breaking my heart, seeing you so upset over your parents' death."

"Yeah..." She hadn't thought about her parents for a couple of days, now, and it was actually kind of a relief.

"I mean, I know _exactly_ how you feel. _My_ parents were murdered at the end of last year by V-Voldemort. Remember that?"

"Yes, I do." Ginny was with him when he got the news, just 2 days before school let out. Collin and Dennis had to move in with their Grandmother.

"Let me take a picture of you, Gin!" he said, suddenly, holding up the camera that was permanently attached to his hand.

"Okay!" Ginny said, grinning. Collin took a few pictures of her then left to go take some of unsuspecting, random people in the hall.

Ginny laid her head down on the table.

'_I'll just rest my eyes for a second,' _she thought, yawning.

* * *

"Ginny! Wake up!" 

"Wha... huh?" She looked up and realized that Harry was shaking her awake.

"Harry, is something wrong?"

"No, but Ron sent me up here to tell you that if you wanted food, you'll have to go to the kitchens, because they've stopped lunch."

"Oh, for merlin's sake!" Ginny cried, standing up. "Harry, would you please go with me?"

"Ginny, I don't know if I have time. I scheduled a quidditch practice in half an hour."

"Oh, Harry. All you have to do is walk me to the painting of the fruit. Please!"

She stuck her bottom lip out in a playful pout.

"Okay. Fine."

"Thanks, Harry!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

""Okay, let's get going!" he said, grabbing her hand and leading the way out of the portrait.

When they got there, Ginny tickled the pear, thanked Harry by giving him a kiss on the cheek, and went inside.

"How may we serve Miss, today?" a house elf squeaked at her feet, surrounded by about 100 other house elves, bowing and curtsying.

"Excuse Dobby, but is you Miss Wheezy?" Dobby asked, making his way to the front of the crowd.

"Hello, Dobby!" Ginny said chuckling.

"What can Dobby get Miss?"

"I'll have a truffle, please, Dobby."

The other house elves began badgering Ginny as Dobby went to get her food.

"Can I get a drink for Miss?"

"Does Miss wish for some more food?"

"Does Miss care for dessert?" The last question was not asked by a house elf. The voice of the owner was _far_ too deep for any house elf. It was definitely a human.

Ginny turned around. Only to find, yet again, the Prince of Slytherin towering over her.

"So, Weasley. What brings you here?"

"I took a nap through lunch, thank you."

"Ah, getting your beauty sleep. Although, I must say, it didn't help much."

"Don't you _ever _give it a rest?" she asked irritably. "Besides, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I wasn't hungry at lunch."

"Here's Miss Wheezy's truffle!" Dobby said proudly, carrying the huge tray over his head.

"What can Dobby do for Sir?" When Dobby realized who Draco was, his large, green eyes widened in fear and surprise.

"Nothing. Miss _Wheezy_ will surely be kind enough to share this _delicious _looking truffle with me."

Ginny looked at him, at Dobby, then at the truffle she held.

She sighed and said, "Yes, Dobby. Mr. Malfoy may share with me."

"I will get Sir a fork," Dobby said, walking away. He returned quickly, handed Draco the fork, and left again.

After Dobby left, Draco smirked at Ginny. "You're too nice for your own good. _Wheezy._"

"Don't remind me," she mumbled, stabbing the truffle with her fork.

"Excuse me, but I thought being kind was _good _for a Weasley."

"Don't get me wrong, Malfoy. I'm not saying _kindness_ is a bad thing, but there's a difference in being kind and too kind."

"Like what?" It seemed that he was genuinely interested.

"Like kindness is where you help people; offer to do simple things for them. Too kind is being a pushover. Letting people take advantage of you."

"You don't seem _too_ kind, then. Just kind."

'_Did Malfoy just actually say something nice to me?'_ Ginny thought, bewildered.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you don't really seem like a pushover, and I've never seen you let _anyone_ take advantage of you."

"I'm not trying to be rude, Malfoy, but you have no right to judge me in the first place."

"Why is that?"

"You don't even know me!"

"You don't know me, either," he replied, quietly.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Haven't you judged me as well?"

With that, he got up and left without saying another word, leaving Ginny shocked.

* * *

"Where have you been, Ginny?" Hermione asked, petting Crookshanks, who was purring in contentment. 

"Kitchens."

"Have a good post-lunch lunch?"

"Yeah. Had a truffle."

"All by yourself?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes." After all, it was part true. She ate _most_ of it by herself.

"I was _famished_," she added.

"It's nearly 5 o'clock!" Hermione exclaimed. "What about dinner?!"

"I'll skip it," Ginny said, shrugging. "I'm just stuffed, now."

"Did you see Dobby down there?"

"Yes, I did. He kept calling me 'Miss Wheezy'. I'm guess I'm like Harry in a way when it comes to Dobby. He can be a bit annoying at times, but I love seeing him do things for me."

When she saw Hermione go stiff, Ginny had to explain. "No, not like that! He's really happy when he does things like that. It's really cute. Don't you think he's really cute?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Well, house elves aren't _meant_ to look cute, Ginny. He's not a puppy or even a baby doll," Hermione, rather calmly, scolded.

"Let's change the subject, then!" Ginny said, clapping her hands together.

"Well, I think Ron said something about Gryffindor having to play Hufflepuff next week."

"In quidditch?"

"Yeah."

"'Mione?"

"Hm?"

Ginny sighed. "Never mind."

"What?"

"It's... nothing. Really."

"Okay. If you're sure."

"I'm going for a little walk outside," Ginny said, standing up. She went upstairs, grabbed her coat, and ran back downstairs and though the portrait before Hermione could say anything.

* * *

"Aah!" Ginny screamed, falling into a mud puddle. 

'_Disgusting!'_ Ginny thought, getting up. She started shivering and her teeth were chattering.

As she made her way slowly back to the castle, someone asked in her ear, "What happened to you?"

She turned around and saw Draco cocking an eyebrow at her, curiously.

"F-fell into a m-mud pud-d-dle."

"Give me your coat, Weasley."

"W-what?"

"Give me that filthy rag you call a coat," he demanded, holding his hand out.

Ginny obeyed, glaring at him.

Draco murmured a drying spell, holding his wand to it.

Ginny rolled her eyes. _'I could have easily done that.'_

Draco then said another spell, turning her coat from a plain, patched, brown coat into an expensive looking black one.

Ginny stared, open mouthed. "Is th-that m-my coat?"

"Yes. Nice improvement, don't you think?"

Then, the unthinkable happened. Draco gave her an actual _smile_.

'_He's got such a lovely smile.'_

"Hold your arms up." Ginny was too shocked to argue, so she obeyed. He slipped the coat on her, said softly "Don't be so clumsy next time," and left.

* * *

"Hey Ginny!" 

"Hey Collin."

"Who's coat is that? Why are you wet? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" She looked down and remembered that she had fell into a puddle. "Oh, I'm fine. I just fell into a puddle outside from all that rain earlier. And this is..." Her heart started racing. Who's coat could she say it is?

"This is, um, Kevin's old coat."

Collin looked at her suspiciously. "You're not dating him again, are you?"

"Oh, Collin. Do you honestly think I'm _that_ stupid?"

"Good," he said, sighing in relief. "Of course, I don't think you're stupid, Gin."

"Well, I have to go upstairs and get out of these clothes."

"Alright, Gin. Goodnight, in case I don't see you later."

"Goodnight."

* * *

By the time Ginny had taken a shower, dried her hair, and gotten dressed, it was already almost 8 o'clock. She heard an owl hoot and glanced up. 

'_Oh, Romeo,'_ she thought to herself. _'Oh, goodness, Gin! Snap out of it! Malfoy is not that charming!'_

She shook her head and walked over to the white owl, who was holding his leg out. As she rolled out the letter, she was surprised about how long it was.

_G.W._

_The rose was just a little something I thought you might like. And I changed my mind about writing letters to you. You're not as filthy as, let's say, a mudblood is. And, honestly, I don't think you've met _everyone_ in the world, so how do you know I'm the biggest git in the world? I might only be the second biggest... Hey, you never know. By the way, as you can tell, I've dropped the initials Y.S. They just cramped my style._

_S.B.G._

Ginny rolled her eyes and chuckled. She grabbed a piece of spare parchment from her book bag and scribbled:

_D.M._

_What does S.B.G. stand for, anyways? Stop saying mudblood. I hate that word. By the way, what happened to your two cronies? I haven't seen them around._

_Ann_

She tied the short letter to Romeo's leg and he flew off. In less than 10 minutes, Romeo came flying back.

_G.W._

_If you must know, S.B.G. stands for _Second Biggest Git,_ thank you. Oh, you mean Crabbe and Goyle? They were murdered by Voldemort. Don't feel sorry for them. They deserved it. Now, if you will, please excuse me. I have to get to studying. Being an Auror takes a lot of work._

_S.B.G._

Ginny smiled to herself. _'He's not that bad, I guess.'_ She shook her head. _'Oh, of course he is!_' Ginny sighed. She just couldn't make up her mind about him. She also couldn't figure out why he wasn't upset over the death of his lackeys. _'I guess they weren't actually friends.'_

* * *

Ginny was tossing and turning for what seemed hours until she finally gave up on trying to sleep. She got out of bed, slipped into a pair of slippers, and went down to the common room. 

Nobody was there, not even the trio, so Ginny guessed it was well after midnight.

She sat down by the fire for a few minutes, then, after going back and forth, trying to decide if she should walk the halls, stood up.

'_If I get points taken off, I'll get points taken off,'_ she decided. She sneaked out through the portrait and silently walked through the empty castle of Hogwarts.

Ginny went into classrooms, different corridors, and still hadn't got caught after about an hour. She decided she would go into the library, see if there was anything at all there that interested her.

After about 15 minutes of looking, she heard the door squeak open.

Her heart started racing. _'Oh no! Now I'm dead!'_

She hid behind the bookshelf, listening for walking. She peeked around the corner and saw someone walking left, so she went onto the right side of it, pressed up against it as tight as she could. She sneaked silently until she got to the end of the bookshelf. She carefully peeked around the corner, seeing no one there.

Ginny decided that she would make a run for it to the door. Just as she was about to take off, someone roughly grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing here?" a voice demanded.

She whipped around, expecting Malfoy, but stared back at a total stranger. She saw, with no surprise, that he was a Slytherin.

"None of your business," she spat, coldly.

"Say, you're one of those _Weasleys,_ aren't you?"

"Yes," she said, puffing her chest up. "Who are you?"

"Nott." Then, without any notice he grabbed her other arm and slammed her hard against the wall. She cried out in pain.

"Shut up, you stupid, girl!" he growled. He then did a spell on her, so her mouth was magically shut.

Ginny tried to scream, yell, anything, but the spell held her jaw in place.

"Now," he said, throwing her harshly to the floor. "I'll show you what I do to bad little girls who just won't mind their manners."

* * *

Ginny woke up in the library, with sun shining through. Remembering the event from the night before, she quickly stood up and looked down at herself. Her pajamas were torn. 

Ginny slowly sat back down, burying her head into her knees, whimpering.

"Weasley?"

Ginny's head snapped up and she was face to face with Draco.

"Ginny, what happened?" he asked, urgently.

She felt tears well up in her eyes, but she was swearing inside, up and down, that she wouldn't cry in front of him.

"Ginny," he whispered. "You have to tell me."

She put her head down into her knees and started sobbing uncontrollably.

He then carefully picked her up and carried her to a chair. "Please," he pleaded. "Something happened. Who did this to you?"

Ginny couldn't control her sobs. "Nott... he... hurt... it... awful..."

Draco's face hardened. He stood up and said deadly, "Go to the infirmary, right now. It's still early, so no one will be up, yet." Then, without another word, he left.

Ginny watched him leave, wiping her face, wincing. She put her hand to her cheek and realized their was a cut and a bruise there. She slowly stood up and quietly followed Draco.

* * *

"...ask you again. Where were you last night?" Draco's booming voice echoed through the halls. Ginny hid quietly behind a statue. 

"Why are you into my business, Malfoy?" Nott cooly asked.

"I already told you, Nott!" Draco yelled. "I came in after patrolling the halls last night and realized you were out of bed. Now _what_ were you doing?"

"Not that it's _any_ of you business, but I was teaching someone how to behave properly when talking to a superior."

From what Ginny heard from behind the statue, Draco lunged. Nott kept yelling, Draco kept saying things that you wouldn't call someone who was a friend, and you could hear a lot of noises that sounded like fists hitting a face.

Ginny quietly snuck away to go to the infirmary.

"Ginny? Is that you?!" Ginny heard someone running towards her and she turned around.

"Oh my... What happened?!" MacKenzie asked, staring at her face.

"It's.. it's nothing," Ginny said, trying to get away.

"Gin! Tell me!"

"No, Mackie, it's nothing."

"Where are you going? You better be on your way to the hospital wing!" she scolded.

"That's exactly where I'm going, thank you. Now, just do me a favor, Mackie. Please bring me some clothes and don't tell _anyone_ how you saw me."

"Gin!"

"What are you doing up so early, anyway?"

"I noticed you were gone, so I came looking for you!"

"Oh, Mackie, just promise me you won't tell anyone."

"I can't, Gin. I have to tell Harry, you brother, someone! Anyone!"

"_No,_" Ginny said. "You can't tell anyone."

"Ginny. You're hurt."

"I'm fine!" She started running to the infirmary, shouts from MacKenzie echoing after her.

* * *

"Madame Pomfrey?" Ginny called. "Madame Pomfrey?" 

"One moment, dear!" the nurse called from a back room. Ginny looked around and saw a mirror. When she stood in front of it, she gasped.

She had a huge bruise on her cheek with a cut inside it, her jaw was swollen and lightly bruised, her bottom lip was busted open, and there was a cut just above her right eye. She had bruises that resembled fingers around her neck.

She looked down at her arms and realized there were a few small bruises on each.

"Miss Weasley?" Madame Pomfrey asked. Whenever Ginny turned to face her, the woman's face paled.

"Dear, what happened?" she asked, quickly, but easily, pushing her onto a bed.

"I..."

"Ginerva, you _have_ to tell me. I need to know what all to check you for."

"It..." Ginny slowly closed her eyes and tried to keep her breath regular.

"You just tell me when you're ready," Madame Pomfrey said softly. "I need to get potions for your cuts and bruises, anyhow." The elderly lady went to making potions as Ginny tried not to think of the night before.

Tears slowly started to stream down her face as everything replayed through her head. Then she remembered the first person she saw this morning. She tried to keep her mind occupied on that.

She thought of how he held her in his (surprisingly) strong arms and carried her to a chair. She remembered the caring look he saw in his usually cold silver eyes. She remembered of how his look turned cold whenever she told him who did it. She remembered the soft voice he used to speak to her with. Then, she remembered something that she hadn't caught earlier.

'_He called me Ginny.'_

* * *

**Author's Note:** **This is my longest chapter yet, so I'm proud of that! How'd you like it? I thought it was pretty good. ::squeals:: He finally showed how much he _cared _in this chapter! Finally! Okay, on with the shoutouts!**

_baby-in-a-blender-_** LoL, Thanks a lot!**

_MrsTomFelton007-_** Omg, thank you! And D/G pairings rock!**

_Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's-_** LoL, it made me happy, too! I know, it will be coming, I promise! Btw, thanks for being such a faithful reader!**

_restless-soul63-_** LoL, thanks! I know! But don't you think their blabbering mouths make for a better story? And thank you, also, for being such a faithful reader to this story!**

_Solana13-_** LoL, thanks for reading! And I love your story, so you need to update soon, too!**

_ArcticAngelzTx- _**Thanks! I hope this was what you were hoping for!**

_Dracosbaby7- _**Thanks so much!**

**And I told you all I would post the link up for the FictionAlley version of this story ((it's not any different, I'm just posting it up for those who have pen names on there!)), but it won't let me post it, so my pen name on FictionAlley is icekitten08 and the title of the story is the same (Hardships).**


	11. Conversation By the Lake

_**Conversation By the Lake**_

"Ginny!" MacKenzie yelled, running into the infirmary.

"Hush child! You'll wake my other patients!" Madame Pomfrey scolded her.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Did you tell someone, Mackie?" Ginny asked. Her cuts and bruises were no longer there, but her jaw was still swollen.

"No, Ginny. I didn't." MacKenzie handed Ginny her clothes.

"Thanks, Mackie," she said, taking them.

"Um, Ginny?"

"Yeah?" She closed the curtain around her bed so she could change.

"I didn't _tell _anyone, but..."

"But what?"

"I think your brother followed me here."

"Why do you think that?" she asked ugently, snapping the curtains back.

"He knew you were missing and he saw me with your clothes. He asked what I was doing, and when I told him nothing, he said he would follow me if I didn't tell him. I heard footsteps behind me when I was coming, so I don't think he was joking..."

Ginny yelled in frustration and Madame Pomfrey shouted at her to keep it down. "Sorry," she replied.

"Gin?" Ron came in and walked up to her. "What happened?" he asked, staring at her swollen jaw.

"I... erm..."

"Ron!" Hermione said exasperated, running into the room, Harry trailing after her. They were both breathing heavily.

"Keep it down!" Madame Pomfrey shrieked from a back room.

"Oh my!" Hermione said, gasping. "Ginny, are you okay!"

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"_What happened_?" Ron demanded.

"It's... It's really n-nothing," she stuttered. At that moment, Dumbledore burst into the room, Draco close behind.

"That's it!" Madame Pomfrey yelled. "Everyone OUT!" She walked into the room and stopped when she saw Dumbledore. "Oh, Headmaster. I didn't know that was you."

"Quite alright, Poppy. I need to see Miss Weasley, if it's fine with you."

Madame Pomfrey wore a disapproving look, but said, "Yes, yes, Headmaster. Ginevra, please stop back by later."

"Of course, Madame."

As Ginny left, she saw MacKenzie, Harry, and Hermione all having to hold Ron back from attacking Draco.

-------

"Miss Weasley?"

"Yes, Professor?"

"Mr. Malfoy has just lost his Head Boy position and is now on the verge of being sent home. I trust _you_ know why."

Ginny didn't answer. Instead, she stared coldly at Draco, who was avoiding her gaze. _I can't believe him! He told Dumbledore! That stupid, idiotic prat!_ Tears welled up in her eyes. Though she was angry, she was also upset. Upset that Draco told, upset that Dumbledore knew, upset that Nott was an evil, future Death Eater... she was just upset in general.

"Don't get angry with Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, as though he read her mind. "He held his tongue. That's actually why we're here. I need you to tell me what happened to you that made this fine, young man so angry that he turned against a fellow student. A Slytherin, at that."

Ginny's tears finally spilled over. Everything that happened the night before replayed painfully and vividly through her mind.

_**-$-Flashback-$-**_

Nott punched Ginny hard in the jaw after she kicked him. She tried screaming out of pain, but forgot that he had sealed her mouth shut.

_Oh my gosh, he broke my flipping jaw!_ Tears streamed down her face out of pain, frustration, and fright.

"Oh, is Little Weasley scared of Big Bad Nott?"

Ginny quickly shook her head He then leaned close to her ear. "After tonight, you will be," he growled.

A whimper came from Ginny's throat. Nott gave an evil smile. "This might hurt for you, but it's going to be a blast for me."

He got off of her and stood up long enough to undo his belt and trousers.

Ginny was so scared she couldn't think straight. She scrambled up and made a run for the door. When she was just a foot away from the entrance, Nott grabbed her waist and slammed her hard onto the floor.

"I was hoping you wouldn't try that." He murmured a quick spell and invisible ropes bound her arms and legs to the floor.

Then, he punched her in her eye. "_Don't_ try that again," he hissed.

He quickly pulled her pajama bottoms off of her, along with her knickers.

Ginny sucked in a sharp breath and more tears fell down her cheeks.

_**-$-End of Flashback-$-**_

Ginny was sobbing uncontrollably, slumped onto the floor.

"Ginny," Draco said, helping her off the floor. "You don't have to do this."

"I want to," she replied, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Are you sure?"

"Miss Weasley, a thought just crossed my mind."

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"Do you know what a pensive is?"

"Yes, I do."

"I have one here," he said, pointing to a nearby cabinet. "Since this is a very special case, perhaps you could use it, so Mr. Malfoy and I may see... You are free to take back the thoughts whenever you feel you can deal with them." Dumbledore folded his hands on the desk, pressing his two index fingers together, and leaning on them.

"Oh, could I?" Professor Dumbledore nodded and she threw her arms around the caring old man. "Thank you!"

"You're very welcome, Miss Weasley." Whenever Ginny stopped hugging him, he got up, strode over to the cabinet, and took out the pensive.

"Do you know how to use this?" he asked, setting it down in front of her.

She nodded and Professor Dumbledore handed her a wand. "This is yours. Mr. Malfoy found it in the Library this morning, but in all of the excitement, forgot to give it to you."

"Thank you," she said, taking her wand.

Ginny closed her eyes, gently placing the tip of the wand to her temple.

Whenever she withdrew it, a thin wispy, silvery substance clung to the tip , and she placed it into the pensive.

"Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said softly, "what happened last night?"

Ginny opened her eyes and shrugged. "I don't know, Professor."

"That's good. That means you put all your thought in there."

Draco sighed heavily beside her. "Ginevra, I won't look in there if you don't want me to."

Ginny looked at him, confusion written on her face. "Sure. Go ahead." She remembered everything that happened today, starting from her wake up, but it confused her. Why were her clothes ripped? Why did she have bruises all over her? Why had Malfoy addressed her as Ginny? _What happened_?

"Miss Weasley, Mr. Malfoy and I will be back in just a few minutes," Professor Dumbledore said. "Please make yourself at home." He smiled, eyes twinkling, motioning to the office around them.

"Thank you, Professor," she replied, chuckling.

Draco uncharacteristically put a hand on Ginny's shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze, and gave a half-hearted smile. He stood up and walked to Dumbledore's side.

"You may go first, Mr. Malfoy, if you'd like."

Draco hesitated before nodding.

Ginny watched him lower his head into the pensive, then disappearing altogether. She watched Dumbledore do the same thing.

Ginny closed her eyes and started softly humming 'I Swear' to herself, as daydreams swirled through her head.

_Ginny looked up into his grey eyes. The ones that were usually so cold were now warm and gentle._

"_Hold me, Draco," she said softly._

_Without a word, he quickly obeyed, his strong arms gently wrapping around her waist._

Ginny's head quickly snapped up. _Ginevra, what was _that she asked herself.

She stood up and started pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself.

"What is it with him? Why am I always so desperate to have him talk to me? What's been up with _him_ lately?"

Ginny laughed out loud. She couldn't believe he was even in her head. She decided to busy herself with one of the miniature objects on Professor Dumbledore's desk until the two men returned.

Professor Dumbledore had a grim look on his face and Draco looked as if he was using all his willpower not to Avada Kedavra Nott.

"Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said in an unbelievingly calm voice. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have points taken away. Let's make it five, shall we? You _were_ out after hours."

"Headmaster!" Draco shouted, startling both Ginny and Professor Dumbledore. "She was-"

"Malfoy! If I was out after hours, let him take points," Ginny said softly, giving him a reassuring smile. Draco shut up but glowered hatefully.

"Theodore Nott is going to be expelled and I'm going to see to it that he'll be up for trial. I know it's not a very humble thing to say, but I'll make sure he gets what he deserves," the usually warm headmaster ended bitterly. "Please excuse me, Miss Weasley, for wishing awful things upon another..."

"It's alright, Headmaster."

"For you, Mr. Malfoy, a detention will be served for trying to pulverize a student of mine," Professor Dumbledore said, giving a warm smile. "Thirty-five house points will also be taken."

Ginny saw Draco clench his jaw, but he stayed quiet.

"But," the old man continued, "I'm awarding fifty house points for helping bring this to my attention. You will also be given an award for Special Services to the school.

"I didn't do anything, though!" Draco protested and Dumbledore held a hand up.

"I insist."

Draco gave a smug half-smile.

"Miss Weasley, I'm awarding Gryffindor thirty house points for such bravery you have shown."

Ginny frowned and wrinkled her forehead. She knew something horrible had happened, she just couldn't remember what. "Erm... thanks, Professor."

Professor Dumbledore gave a heavy sigh. "Would you like your memory back?"

Ginny nodded, taking the given opportunity. She _hated_ being in the dark.

She drew her wand from her robes, placing it to the silvery substance in the Pensive. She pulled the wand away, silver strand clinging to the tip, and placed it to her temple.

Suddenly, memories from the night before flooded her head, and she instantly regretted wanting them back.

"Oh, Merlin," she mumbled, burying her face in her hands and falling back onto the chair.

"Mr. Malfoy, would you kindly escort Miss Weasley to the Gryffindor Tower?" the elderly man asked with a tired-filled voice.

"Of course, Professor." Draco gently took a hold of Ginny's arm, making her shudder.

"Come on, Weasley," Draco muttered.

Draco and Ginny made their way slowly to Gryffindor Tower in silence until Ginny felt the need to break it.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy," she whispered.

"For what?"

"I don't know... making you see what happened last night. Making you get detention."

"You didn't make me do either of those things. I did them of my own accord."

"Look, Malfoy-"

"Whatever it is that you have to say, save it!" he spat suddenly, turning on her.

Ginny was both surprised and scared. Anger flashed in his eyes. She had never seen anyone so livid and she didn't even know what set him off. All of the sudden, he looked calm. He looked... guilty, in fact.

"I'm sorry, Ginevra. I didn't mean-"

"Don't use my name!" she yelled angrily. She turned and ran, leaving him just staring after her. Ginny didn't know what came over her, but she didn't feel comfortable with Malfoy saying her name.

When she finally stopped running, she had ended up beside the lake, resting her back against a tree. Her lungs felt like they were going to explode, because she ran down five flights of stairs. Tears were forming in her eyes. She just didn't know how to handle everything that was happening. Her legs gave out on her and she collapsed onto the ground, staring at the blurry vision of the lake before her.

"Oh, this is lovely," someone growled. "I'm sweating."

Ginny rolled her eyes and turned her head to look at Draco, blinking away the tears in her eyes. "Malfoy," she said softly, acknowledging him.

Breathing heavily, he sat down about half a foot away from her. "You know... you can run pretty fast and pretty good."

Ginny didn't respond. She just stared at him. _He looks so vulnerable._ Then, she clucked her tongue. This was _Malfoy_ she was thinking about.

"You need to talk," he stated, turning to stare her in the eyes.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"So many horrible things have happened to you lately. If you're not careful, you might actually get me feeling sorry for you." He gave a loud, fake laugh. Ginny chuckled bitterly.

"I don't want your sympathy, Malfoy."

"Talk," he demanded in a pompous, arrogant voice.

"About what?" she asked softly. She couldn't believe she was even _considering_ to make conversation with Malfoy.

"I don't know... what are you going to be after you graduate?"

"I can't decide." Ginny diverted her eyes to the ground, because she could feel herself blushing every time he talked. Malfoy liked to make eye contact. "I either want to be an Auror, which I don't think is going to happen, a Healer, or a Dragon Keeper."

"Dragon Keeper?" Draco asked, his eyes going wide. "What on the bloody earth would posses you to become a Dragon Keeper?"

"My brother, Charlie, is one. I've visited him a few times in Romania, and the dragons took well to me. He says that I have potential."

"Oh... I never knew that about you."

"Not a lot of people do. They've never asked, though. What about you? What are your plans?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do you not remember me wanting to become an Auror?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ginny exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth. "I forgot!" Then she did something unusual: she placed a hand on Draco's arm and _giggled_.

Draco looked in surprise at her hand. She quickly drew it back. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I don't know... I didn't mean..."

He touched her arm. "It's alright," he said and winked. He stood up and stretched. "I better be going. I have to find out what my detention is."

"Mm-hmm," she replied, watching him leave. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks. _What the bloody Mary was _that_ all about?_


End file.
